Innocence Lost 2: Actions Have Consequences
by dickard23
Summary: Trevor Langan has finally woken up from his coma, and the world is watching. Will he seek custody of the twins? Alex is sure that everything will work itself out, but Olivia, as always, fears the worst. Will she manage to keep it together or will she let the stress drag her under?
1. Chapter 1

When most people become comatose, they usually either wake up within a month or never at all. Trevor was in a strange world in between. He could hear much of what was said to him, but he could not open his eyes or respond in anyway.

At first, it was maddening. He couldn't understand why he wasn't able to move. It took some time before he really understood that he was comatose, and that everyone else thought he was literally dead weight.

He could only smell and hear during his 16 months of incapacitation and most of the time, he smelled the sterility of the hospital. Luckily, they still bathed him, so he didn't reek the whole time, but the soap was hospital grade body soap and smelled like nothing.

He distinctly remembered the smell of rain and he couldn't understand why it was rainy all the time, until he realized it was a perfume, one that the nurse who took care of him most days wore.

He also remembered the smell of peaches, which he knew to be Alexandra. She did not visit nearly as often, but when she did, he got the low down on what was going on in his life without him. He wondered if she would have been so candid if she knew he could hear her.

Now, he had triple vision. His eyes were working for the first time in a long time.

"Welcome back Mr. Langan," his doctor said as if he had gone on some Jamaican cruise or some shit.

One of the Alex's was on her cellphone, probably calling her wife. Olivia Benson was hot. He could hardly blame Alex for tapping that.

A few minutes later, she came back to the room. "Trevor's dad is on his way here." He had been out to lunch with a friend when he got Alex's call.

Before Alex could call her wife, the detective called her. "Hey, I need you to come home. I caught a case," and Olivia could hardly take the twins to the hospital.

"I'm on my way."

15 minutes later, Alex was pulling into her parking spot. She called her wife. "I'm about to get into the elevator now."

Olivia waited for her to get inside before leaving. "Sorry to cut your visit short."

"Actually, I'm going to bring the twins with me to see Trevor. He just woke up."

"What?" Olivia was stunned.

"He just opened his eyes."

Olivia needed to process this, but right now, she didn't have the time. She just kissed her wife's face. "I'll see you tonight."

 _He woke up? Just like that. Weird._

Olivia made her way downtown to the hospital.

"Our victim was beaten and branded with some type of iron," Elliot told her as he met her out front. "She's really skittish, so it might be best for you to talk to her without me."

Olivia quickly threw herself into work mode. "What's her name?"

"Julia Winters, she's 24 years old and lives in the Bronx."

Before they could reach their victim, her doctor came outside to explain her findings. The look in her eyes was a somber one.

By the time Alex made it back to the hospital, they had a clicker for Trevor to answer questions. One click was no and two clicks was yes.

He had tried to speak but it had come out garbled. His vocal chords had to learn how to work again.

"We will have a speech therapist come in to help him," the doctor explained to Trevor Sr. He would also need physical therapy for several months. The first two months he would likely spend in the hospital and then they could start thinking about home treatment.

Elsa held up a cup to Trevor's mouth as he drank. Alex was right. She is easy on the eyes, and she smells like rain.

When he looked forward, he saw Alex with two babies.

"This is Lorelai, and this is Ollie."

 _They look just like her._

He tried to talk again, but it was still garbled. His brain knew what he wanted to say but his throat didn't seem to remember how to make it happen.

"They just took their first steps yesterday."

She talked to him about the twins and how they were growing so fast. When they started to get restless, she said, "I have to bring them home now, but I'll come back tomorrow with some pictures."

He tried to nod, but his head just kind of lurched forward.

Julia did not want to tell anyone what happened to her. The rape kit produced no fluids, but there was evidence of bruising and fibers recovered.

"I believe she was raped with an object," the doctor had told them. "We'll need to send the fibers to the lab to see what kind."

She also had lots of bruising. Olivia wondered if this was some type of gang initiation. She might be afraid of retaliation for talking to the cops.

"We can get you a protective detail if you're scared," Olivia offered. "Are you afraid that the people who did this will come back?"

"Nothing happened to me," she lied poorly.

"Your doctor's exam shows otherwise," Olivia said truthfully.

She still refused to talk about it.

Olivia left her card. "If you need anything, day or night, you can call me. We don't have to talk about the case. We can talk about whatever you want."

"You seem nice," she said to the detective. "Don't waste your time on this."

Without the victim's story, all they could do was canvas the neighborhood where she had been found hoping for witnesses and to try and see if there was any significance to the symbol that had been branded on the woman's back. It was some type of bird. They would know more once the scanned their photo into their database at the station.

Three hours later

"What do we have?" Olivia questioned.

"Nothing," Munch growled. "No one was around the area where Julia was found. She was dumped in area with no open businesses and no security cameras."

"The symbol doesn't match any of the gangs that we know of," Fin added. "And they're still running the fibers in the lab."

"Until our victim talks, we may not get anywhere," Stabler lamented.

When they didn't find anything, Cragen ordered them all home. "I want you back first thing tomorrow morning." They should save their energy for when they have a lead.

Olivia hated getting nowhere with their cases. The bastards who raped Julia were still out there and what if it happened again to someone else.

She headed home where a bowl of linguini and mussels was waiting for her. She didn't heat it up before she ate it, sounded like too much effort.

Alex came out of the bedroom wearing nothing, but Olivia's NYPD shirt and boxers. "How's the case going?"

"It's not," Olivia grumbled. "The victim won't say what happened."

Alex kissed her forehead. "I know you'll find a way. You always do."

"I don't want to think about work," Olivia told her.

"Then don't," Alex answered. "Focus on me." She kissed her on the mouth.

Olivia didn't need the rest of her dinner. She picked up Alex and took her to bed.

The detective wanted to forget the stress of the day and Alex was more than willing to submit.

Olivia pinned her wife's wrists overhead. "I'm in charge tonight."

Alex could see the desperation in her wife's eyes and nodded weakly. "Take me as you want me."

Olivia's lips crashed onto Alex's, covering any moans as she worked her hands under her wife's t-shirt.

Alex tried to stay still but her body involuntarily bucked as the anticipation of what was to come overtook her.

Olivia bit her wife's neck, knowing she would leave a mark. She had to possess her, to claim her.

"I love you," Alex breathed out as her wife bit her stomach.

Pleasure and pain coursed down her body as Olivia made it to the patch of blonde curls between her legs. A broad tongue lapped at the sensitive flesh, the tongue went up and down, tantalizing as it made each gentle movement.

Olivia kept lapping away until Alex was wet enough. She pushed her fingers inside her wife and hooked them, forcing the blonde to lurch forwards as she rubbed her g-spot.

"OH FUCK!"

She tried to move to quicken the pace, but Olivia firmly held her hips down.

Alex's knuckles were white as she gripped the sheets so hard. Her face flush, she was out of breath.

Olivia pressed down against her, rocking with intent as she fucked Alex silly.

Long legs locked around Olivia's hips. Alex bit onto her shoulder to cover her own screams as she came apart.

Alex may not always know the reasons, but it's clear to her when Olivia had a bad day. The detective clutched her ADA tightly to her as she slept. It was slightly painful but Alex didn't complain. She just kissed Olivia's ear and whispered sweet nothings into it.

* * *

Alex woke up to an empty bed. There was a note on the dresser from Olivia.

 _Wanted to try to talk to our victim again before she gets released from hospital_

It was her dedication that made Alex fall in love with Olivia; it was also what made her have to miss her wife so often.

She hopped in the shower and when she got out, she saw that she would need to use cover up.

She carefully masked the hickeys on her neck. The scratch marks on her back and the bite marks on her chest were a different story. No one should see them other than her and Olivia.

When she got to work, after feeding her twins, having a quick breakfast, and getting the monsters to daycare, no one would have been able to guess that she had been royally fucked the night before. Her poise was flawless, and she looked every bit the ice queen that people feared her to be.

She got to her office and sat down, ready to work.

Judith talked more than she did the day before, but Olivia wasn't sure if her words were truthful. She said there had been three men and she didn't know any of them. She also wouldn't say where she was attacked or what she had been doing before she had been attacked. She just said that one man barked orders, one held her down, and the third forced some strange object inside of her.

Olivia was sure that she knew more; she likely knew the ringleader, but she was afraid of him for some reason.

"Did they threaten you?"

She shook her head. "They just beat me afterwards and left me in that alley."

"How did they get you there?"

"Car."

"What did it look like?"

"A blue Ford Taurus."

It was a little more, but still not enough to get at her attackers.

The only thing they could do was wait for lab results and start asking people she knows if they can think of anyone who would try to harm her.

"Before she moved out, she had been living in the dorms in Fordham," Munch pointed out. "Maybe her ex-roommate can give us something."

And the search continues.

It didn't occur to Alex that Trevor's room would be packed today. His firm was there, Audra was there, and someone called Channel 4 to be there.

Not wanting to get ensnared in the spectacle around his room, Alex flagged down one of the nurses and asked her to bring Trevor the photo album. She had made copies what she deemed were the best photos of the twins.

"Not a problem Mrs. Cabot."

They would only allow two people at a time to see him, and he needed frequent breaks as he could only keep his focus for so long.

"Where have all these people been over the past 16 months?" Elsa hissed. It wasn't just the visitors either. Now all the nurses wanted to care for him since he's a cutie who finally woke up.

"Hiding from the circus too," Alex questioned.

"It's like they all want to pretend that they care."

"Welcome to the world of the rich and famous."

"Are you heading out now?"

"Yeah, I have to go to back to work."

"I think I'm going to take the afternoon off. I haven't done that in ages." Elsa needed a break from these fake bitches.

Trevor was supposed to be listening to his partner's ramblings about how the firm was doing, but he found the photos in front of him more appealing. He had already heard an account of his firm from Alex, so he knew his partner was sugarcoating it for him now. Trevor would deal with it once he could read the hard numbers.

The photos on the other hand were real. There were some from the day they were born, some with his father the next day, one of them in the bath, some for Halloween, Christmas, and recent pictures of them standing up on their own.

They had grown so fast.

"Are you even listening?" Henshaw complained.

Trevor shrugged. Not really.

* * *

She was raped with a tennis racket.

"I don't even know what to do with that?" Olivia questioned. Unless the rapists kept the racket and they found it that was of no use.

All they learned on Fordham campus was that Juliet liked to party.

"She would get drunk and stumble in at like 3AM on a Tuesday," her ex-roommate told them. "I have no idea what kind of riff raff hung out with."

"Maybe she met a guy at a party, and when he brought her back home, she was surprised by his two friends," Stabler postured.

They kept trying to fill in Juliet's world, but no clear picture was emerging.

Again, Olivia went home frustrated that they didn't seem to be going anywhere.

When she got home, the news was on and they kept playing the story of Trevor Langan's surprising recovery. "Most people wake up within a month or not at all, but sixteen months later, he woke up with normal brain function. It's remarkable."

"I wonder if they'll make it a tv movie," Olivia muttered.

"I bet Lifetime is trying to buy the rights as we speak," Alex told her.

Olivia looked at her.

"What, they love kitschy stories like this."

"And what will they say about us in the story?"

"Don't care as long as Charlize Theron plays me."

"You don't think they'll be some kind of fallout from this?"

"Like what. We didn't cause his coma."

"Not that, I mean me adopting his babies while he was asleep."

Alex kissed the corner of her wife's mouth. "They're our babies. No matter what the law had to say about it they were ours. I gave birth to them. You gave me the strength to do it. Trevor played a part, and I want him to be able to know the twins, but they're ours. I don't think he's going to fight us on this, and it's not anyone else's business how they were conceived."

"How do you know?"

"I know the twins are ours because they call you Mommy. I know Lorelei is yours because she called you Mommy before she called me Mama. I know Ollie is yours because he always lights up when you pick him up to play peekaboo.

I don't know for sure what Trevor will do, but I know that he's a good guy who wants what's best for the twins and that would be the two of us raising them together in one home.

I also don't think he was in any rush to be a father and that pictures and occasional visits will be enough, but if it's not we'll get to that bridge when we get there. I don't want you to worry alone because we're in this together, for better or for worse, babe. You're stuck with me."

"What if he wants you back?"

"I don't think he was ever in love with me. I think I reminded him of Trey. Trey was his best friend pretty much since birth. I represented a part of his life that he missed, and he did the same for me. Plus, I'm pretty sure the nurse who has been tending to him all this time called dibs. He'll likely be distracted, as soon as he's operational again."

"How are you so confident?"

"How could I not be? I have you."

The two lovebirds fell asleep watching old movies on the couch under a blanket. It was a common tactic they used when one of them was on edge. Olivia slumped against her wife. "I love you."

"I love you, Baby."


	2. Chapter 2

The thought of losing her kids kept Olivia up at night. While Alex slept like a baby, Olivia found herself shaking in the bed.

Subconsciously, Alex slipped her arms around her trembling wife, pulling her into a warm embrace and holding her still.

Olivia still couldn't fall asleep, but she was able to close her eyes. She inhaled her wife's flowery scent.

Unfortunately, they could not find out Trevor's intentions until his vocal chords were working. Olivia managed to work herself into a panic every day, while Alex did her best to keep her wife calm. The brunette was never a fan of talking about her feelings. Alex was just glad she didn't run away again

It was three weeks after Trevor woke up, that he told Alex that he wasn't going to fight the adoption.

"I won't be able to do much in terms of parenting for another eight months," he admitted, with all of the physical therapy he had to do. "The twins pretty much won the parenting lottery with you two." He wanted to be a father some day, but now wasn't the time.

"Thank you." She kissed his forehead. "I don't want you to be a stranger now."

"I won't be."

Olivia was so relieved when Alex told her the news that she cried.

"It's okay," Alex hugged her wife. It was easier for her not to be scared; her maternal rights weren't the ones being challenged. "We're okay."

"We're better than okay."

"Want to drive by the house."

"Yeah."

They got the twins in the back seat and headed for their home. It wouldn't be done for at least another month, but they liked seeing it's evolution.

When they got there, they saw that the walls were painted and the floors were redone. They had just started on the cabinetwork.

"This kitchen is going to be gorgeous," Alex was so excited.

"And there's room for every random gizmo they sell on QVC."

Alex pinched her butt. "You love the food that comes from those gizmos."

"I love everything you touch."

"I love you."

"Mama!" Ollie cried out.

"Mommy!" Lorelei yelped next.

They picked up their twins and started to show them around the home.

"Soon, we're going to live here," Alex told him.

"And one day, you two will each have your own room," Olivia added.

"And you'll have younger siblings who will eventually get their own room too."

Olivia looked at her. "When do you think we should start on that?"

"I think sooner rather than later."

"Really, they're not even one yet."

"It can take several months for insemination to take. Who knows when it will work?"

"But you got knocked up after one time."

"It was a fluke, which could happen with you, but we don't know. It was nice having a brother who was pretty close to me in age. I just thought the twins might like that too."

Olivia knew her wife had a point. "I'm scared."

"About carrying a baby? I can …"

"I want to do it. You shouldn't have to do all of the work," Olivia told her, "and you did want little Bensons."

"I know. What I was going to say was that I could carry a baby made with your eggs."

"You would do that?"

"I would love to carry your baby. Why wouldn't I?"

They decided to continue the conversation at home over wine.

"So choices we have," Alex started with her notebook. She loved her lists. "The paternity, the method of impregnation, and who is carrying."

"I like the idea of our babies being related to each other," Olivia admitted. "I know that makes this harder."

"That doesn't matter," Alex said. "It should happen how we want it to, no reason to feel bad about knowing what you want."

"So that leaves us with two options for paternity."

"My father or Trevor."

"Yeah," Olivia cringed.

"You don't want to ask Trevor."

"It's not that he's a bad guy it's …"

"I know. What cop wants to carry the baby of the defense attorney she squares up against all the time. I know the guys will all give you shit for it."

"That sounds stupid doesn't it?"

"Doesn't matter. We're doing this how we want to. I'll call my father."

"I should also see a specialist," Olivia told her. "I don't know how fertile I am and that would likely determine whose carrying the baby." She wanted to do it; she just didn't know if she could.

"How about we call Dr. Gupta's office and see if she can refer us to someone?" Dr. Gupta had been great for them.

"I like that. We're going to do this!"

Alex grabbed her hand. "Bet your cute ass we are!"

They were going to grow their family. Their dreams were coming true.

April

Part of Trevor thought it was worse to wake up and live in the hospital than it was to be comatose and live in the hospital. He was closer to escaping but he was no freer than before.

People came in and out, asking him all kinds of questions, making him take tests and do weird exercises. The comings and goings made him dizzy and the smell of the hospital was still there.

The only saving grace of this place was Elsa. She would smuggle him real food when no one was looking.

"Your cheesesteak Mr. Langan."

"Oh call me Trevor," he said with a grin. She was cute and she knew to ask for extra mushrooms.

"I'm sure you're dying to get out of here."

"You have no idea. How can you handle the smell?"

"I think I've become desensitized to it."

"Now that should be a crime against humanity."

Elsa had an idea. "You could get out of here sooner if you hired a home health aide to tend to your needs there. Nothing we do here can't be done at home."

"Really?"

"There are physical therapists who make house calls. The hospital was just a convenient place to combine the care and the therapy. It's not the only place."

"Do you know any home health aides?"

Two Weeks Later

Trevor already fired three home health aides. The first one kept smoking cigarettes in his bathroom. The second one treated him as a child, and the third just had an annoying voice. She sounded like she swallowed helium all day.

The agency he used was about to fire him as a client.

"Else, I'm in trouble here."

"Are you hurt?" She was about to rush to his apartment.

"No, but I can't find a competent home health aide. I've already fired three."

The agencies really weren't the best. "Maybe I could track down someone I know from nursing school."

"Wait, can you do it?"

"Me?"

"Yes. You're competent. You know I'm not five, and I like your voice."

She blushed. "But what about my job at the hospital?"

"How much vacation to you have saved up?"

A lot, she never took it.

"I would think at least five weeks."

"Then why don't you take them? I'll pay you twice whatever the hospital would have paid you to go to work, and if you want to go back to the hospital at the end of the five weeks, I'll find someone new."

The next morning, Elsa was at his penthouse. The first thing she did was help him get to the bathroom. He could manage small steps, so he was fine in the bathroom, but his balance wasn't good enough for him to have free reign of the apartment.

"I wasn't expecting you here so early," he said. It wasn't even seven yet.

"What would you have done until I got here?"

"Held it."

"That's why I came early."

She changed the sheets while he was in the bathroom and got him into clean clothes.

"This is kind of embarrassing," he told her.

"I've changed you for sixteen months."

"But I couldn't see you. For all I knew a robot was changing my clothes."

"You knew someone was there?"

"I was surprisingly lucid for a coma. I just couldn't open my eyes or do anything."

"How much do you remember?" She started to blush.

He pecked her lips. "I remember that."

"I shouldn't have …"

"If I minded, I wouldn't have hired you. It's just going to be a while before I'm in any condition to date."

"Your health comes first."

"For now."

Alex thought she was going to lose the feeling in her fingers. "Liv, could you loosen up a bit."

"Oh sorry," Olivia didn't realize how tight she was squeezing.

Alex kissed her nose. "No matter what he says, we'll figure it out together."

Dr. Morrison came back with the results. "Mrs. And Mrs. Cabot, I'm happy to tell you that Olivia has a perfectly healthy reproductive system. I would suggest, however, that she presume that a pregnancy would be high risk since she is in her mid-thirties."

"What does that mean for us?" Alex questioned.

"I would consider taking an earlier maternity leave, and since she is a police officer, I would strongly consider desk duty after the first trimester."

Olivia groaned. "I hate desk duty."

"What about a temporary change of unit?" Alex suggested.

"What?"

"You said computer crimes keeps asking about you. You could do that which would be better than doing everyone's DD5s for three months."

Olivia nodded. "That would be better, but I hate sitting on my butt all the time."

"Try carrying twins."

"Another thing to consider," the doctor mentioned, "If you pursue IVF, there is a risk of multiple births."

"We could get two Bensons for the price of one," Alex said to her.

"Another said of twins?"

"It's just a possibility, one that I wouldn't oppose."

Olivia wasn't so sure.

"We would already have all the right stuff."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Let's get going, Love."

* * *

Now that they knew Olivia was ready to get knocked up and they knew whom they wanted as a donor, they just had to make the call.

"Hey Dad, will you be in New York anytime soon?"

"Actually, I'll be there on Thursday for business honey. Did you want to do lunch?"

"I do, and I have some news."

"Good news I hope."

"Great news."

Olivia was actually able to join them. "Apparently, the scum bags are napping right now."

They met Walter at Bistro La Bonne.

"How is my favorite daughter?" Walter had a smile.

"Do you have any other daughters? I'm telling mom!"

He pressed his finger to his lips.

"It's great to see you Walter."

"I can't believe it is almost a year from the day you two got married and the twins first birthday is coming up."

"Can you say shotgun wedding?" Alex teased.

Olivia rolled her eyes.

They ordered their food before they explained to their father why they had wanted to have lunch with him.

"Olivia and I are looking to expand our family."

"Oh wonderful. What are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to carry them," Olivia told him, "but we wanted them to all be related."

"How are you going to do that?" Walter questioned.

Alex looked at him.

"Me?"

"Well you are related to me, I hope."

He raised a brow. "I have no objection, but I will have to ask your mother."

"She's only my mother as opposed to his wife when he wants to avoid the conversation," Alex told her.

"You're terrible."

"It's true!"

Jennifer was not opposed to the idea, but she had another one. "Why can't they use Trey's sperm?"

"What?" Walter asked.

"He got his sperm stored, remember." He had thought he had gotten testicular cancer. He hadn't, as it turned out.

"Is it still good after all this time?"

"It was frozen, so I think it's fine."

Jennifer called to make sure that the sperm was still at the bank. It was and all they needed was a release to show that they controlled his estate.

Walter called Alex to explain her other option.

"Trey thought he had testicular cancer?"

"It was a false alarm, but he had a lesion …"

"I don't want to hear about a lesion he had on his junk Dad."

"Oh, sorry."

* * *

Olivia didn't make it home until late that night. Alex was already asleep, but she left a note.

 _Make sure to talk to me before you leave for work tomorrow. It's good news, I promise._

Alex

When the morning did come, Olivia was hesitant to wake her wife, but she did it anyway.

"Good morning!"

Olivia kissed her forehead. "Babe, what is it you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh right. Trey froze his sperm at a bank, so Mom said we could use it to make our baby Benson."

"You want to use your dead brother's sperm?"

"You make it sound morbid."

"It's just weird that we can't ask him."

"I know, but if he were alive, he would have said yes. He would have offered to do it naturally, and I would have slapped the hell out of him, but he would have said yes."

"What happens when they ask about their father?"

"I'll explain that he's in heaven, and I'll tell him all about him. We even have some home movies of his they can watch."

"Is this what you want?"

"It is." Alex knew she couldn't get Trey back, but she would gladly raise little Treys. "Why wouldn't I want a baby from my two favorite people?"

Olivia kissed her. "Okay. We'll do it."

Alex and Olivia had an unusual way of celebrating their wedding anniversary. They went and got fertility drugs and Olivia started taking them. They decided to start with insemination. It was less invasive and less likely to yield multiple births which was a concern for Olivia. It's success rate was lower, so they would likely have to try more times, but Olivia was fine with a bit of a buffer between the twins and the new baby.

They had only discussed with Alex's parents that they were trying to have a baby. They didn't want to share the news until they had something to report back. "The last thing we need is people asking if you're knocked up yet every month."

"I am excited for you to knock me up," Olivia told her before giving her a kiss.

"I know we have a week, but I think we should practice."

Olivia grabbed her hand and led her to the bedroom.

Their clothes came off in a flurry as they fell onto the bed.

"I need you," Olivia told her as they sank into the sheets.

"You have me, always and forever."

* * *

Unfortunately, the actual insemination was less fun. Olivia was on a cold bench with her legs in stirrups and had what seemed like a miniature baster inside of her.

Once it was done, the doctor gave them some alone time.

"I hear orgasms help with conception," Olivia told her.

Alex pulled a battery-powered vibrator out of her purse. "Good thing I brought Pogo."

"Pogo?" Olivia burst out laughing.

"What, it needed a name."

"So you named it like it was a cartoon dog."

"It's not like I named it Huckleberry Hound."

Olivia's laughter turned into a different type of cry when Alex put pogo between her legs.

Three Days Later

"I can't believe we're throwing a party for babies at the Waldorf," Olivia muttered as they got their twins in their spiffy new clothes. Ollie had on slacks and a button down shirt and Lorelei had on a blue dress.

Technically Jennifer is throwing the party. They just have to bring the tots.

"Welcome to the world of the rich and pretentious," Alex kissed her cheek. "It's a society tradition that you show off the youth when they're one."

"Why?"

"It's to prevent everyone and his mother from trying to visit you when the baby's first born. The year is a buffer for those who aren't close enough for you to want to entertain at your house."

"You people are strange," Olivia told her as they got into the car.

Thirty minutes later, they were about to enter the event when a security guard stopped them.

"Your mother wants the twins to make a grand entrance." They would have to use the main staircase.

Olivia was about to explode. It was bad enough they had to have this stupid party. Now they had to act like their twins were royalty.

Alex sighed and took her family into the elevator. "We'll have to wait for them to announce the twins."

"Are you …"

Alex hurried her wife into the elevator. "There's no reason to lose it in front of the guard. We'll figure it out upstairs."

Alex knew Liz would be here early and asked her to bring some snacks for the twins and some liquor to the second floor.

About ten minutes later, Liz arrived with emergency provisions. "I see you're in the holding cell," she teased.

"And Lena didn't even send me here."

Olivia took a shot of whiskey to get the edge off. "How do you deal with these events?"

"It's an adaptive skill," Liz told her. "I also didn't have any children, so I only had to be a guest at these miserable parties."

15 minutes later, the twins were formally announced. Alex and Olivia had to carry them down the stairs as people oohed, ahhed, and took their photos.

Alex spoke for the family, thanking everyone for coming and telling them to have a great time. She thought this event was just as stupid as Olivia did, but she sounded sincere. She had the makings of a politician, definitely.

Some of the guests had been at the wedding, but many of them had not. Olivia was surprised to see Donald Trump and some other "celebrities."

"Are those the Hiltons?" Olivia did not think their children needed to be associated with these people.

"Just smile and wave," Alex told her. "It will be over soon."

"Alexandra, Olivia, you two look beautiful as always," Jennifer actually liked these parties.

Olivia tried to smile, but it was really hard right now.

"Thanks, Mom. I think Olivia has a bit of stage fright."

"Oh, take her to the lounge. I can take the twins."

There was a private lounge on the side of the party. Alex got Olivia into it and locked the door.

"I have stage fright?"

"It was better than saying, this party sucks, and Olivia's not a good enough actress to pretend to enjoy it."

Olivia raised a brow.

Alex kissed her. "We have a good ten to fifteen minutes before my mother comes looking for us. "Let's use it."

It was hard to turn that down.

Jack, Lena, and Liz were all drinking sidecars as they watched Jennifer parade around the newest Cabots.

"How much do you want to be one of them will become a lawyer and the other will become a cop?" Jack asked Lena.

"Easy bet, the question is which one will be which."

Liz piped in. "Ollie will be a lawyer and Lorelei the cop."

"I'll put $200 on that," Lena added.

"Me too," Jack said. "I think Ollie's more likely to be the cop and Lorelei's the lawyer."

"And why's that?"

"Ollie's named after Olivia and Lorelei was named after Alex."

"The real question is," Lena started, "will the newest Cabot lawyer become a corporate litigator or a prosecutor."

They put bets on that too.

"That wasn't so bad," Alex said as they all got in the car.

"That was horrifying," Olivia argued.

"We had fun in the lounge, best society baby birthday party I've ever had."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Yeah that was pretty good."

"The twins real birthday is in two days. We'll celebrate with friends having a low key party and this time next month, we'll be moving into our dream home."

"That does sound pretty good."

Alex kissed her. "I know."

* * *

After six weeks, Elsa ran out of her vacation time. She could go back to work, quit, or take unpaid leave.

Trevor still needed some help, but he did not need her all day anymore. He could walk with his walker and he had a PT that he worked with three days a week.

"What do you think I should do?" Elsa questioned. She wasn't hurting for money. She had collected both her salary and the money Trevor paid for the past six weeks.

"Do you want to go back to the hospital?"

"Not really."

"So quit."

"But what will I do when I'm not needed here?"

"Start looking for a new job. I won't need you here forever, well at least not as my nurse."

She raised a brow. "How else would you need me?"

"I think you know."

"I think I want to hear you say it," she teased.

Trevor kissed her.

"I didn't hear you. I think I need you to say it again."

They met each other half way on the second kiss. The kiss was everything Elsa had hoped it would be.


	3. Chapter 3

Three weeks later

Olivia took the test. "I'm not pregnant," she told her wife.

Alex knew that was probably the case, but hearing it made them both sad. "Let me hold you." Olivia never wanted to unpack her emotions right away.

Alex was content with just being there for her anyway she could.

Olivia felt sad and then she felt selfish for being sad. She had a beautiful wife, two gorgeous kids, and she would be moving into an amazing house next week, but they wouldn't be adding their new family member just yet.

"Let's just stay in tonight."

"Hot chocolate and old movies."

"You know it."

They chose Strangers on a Train for the night. Alex rested her head on her wife's ample chest as they curled up together.

"I love you," Olivia whispered in her wife's ear.

"I love you more," Alex mumbled.

The pain eased over the next few days and before they knew it, it was time for them to move into their new house.

* * *

Alex had wanted to hire movers, but Olivia didn't see the point in hiring movers when they had friends, and their friends had children. They had Rob, Munch, Fin, Fin's son Ken, and Elliot, as volunteers.

"It will be easy to get the stuff out of the apartment,' Olivia told her, since there was a freight elevator.

"And it will be a pain to get this stuff into the house," especially the bedroom furniture that had to make it to the second floor.

"I'm sure they can figure it out."

Two hours later

"How are we supposed to get this into the house?" Fin gaped when he saw the furniture they had to move.

"We have plenty of wheel carts," John mentioned.

"And can we wheel this shit up the stairs?"

"Oh, no."

They started with the easy furniture like the couch and the coffee table.

Ken whistled when he saw the house. "This shit is nice!" The remodeled kitchen really stood out and so did the bar they built into the living room for parties.

He and Elliot moved in the love seats and end tables while Fin and Munch glared at the bedroom furniture.

"I think all four of us will need to move this stuff."

Alex had heavy bedroom furniture. She didn't want her bed jostling around while she went wild in it, and she had hired movers to move it into the apartment.

They also had to turn it sideways to get it up the stairs.

"Is this bed made of concrete," Elliot complained.

"Nope, just a really hard wood," John told him.

"Hard wood," Ken laughed.

The women had moved the boxes while the men struggled with the furniture.

"I feel bad for not helping them," Olivia said.

"I don't want you to overexert yourself." They were waiting to see if round 2 had taken.

"I know, but that looks hard."

"They already have four people. Adding a fifth might just make moving the furniture more awkward."

Alex put earmuffs on the twins' ears so they wouldn't hear all the cursing that went on as the men moved the bed and dresser up the stairs into the master bedroom.

Moving the Ice Queen's furniture into her lovely new home was hardly Elliot's idea of a fun Saturday, but he couldn't be the only one on the squad not to show up. Plus, Kathy volunteered him.

"I wonder why they painted their bedroom walls grey," Fin commented. "It's not the most inviting color."

"It's probably so it goes with the art they're going to put up," his son commented. "They have hooks in the wall which suggests they have paintings to put up in here."

* * *

An hour later, the boys were enjoying beer and pizza on the couch. The patio furniture had yet to arrive, else they'd be outside.

"Seriously, how many tons did we move today," Fin grumbled.

"I never thought about moving the furniture out when I bought it," Alex said as she offered people more drinks.

"How did you move it in?"

"I hired movers."

"And you couldn't find movers to move to Brooklyn?"

"Quit your bellyaching," Olivia told him. "You know you've been skipping your lifting sessions. Think of it as free personal training."

Ken laughed at his father.

"Shut up Ken."

"Speaking of working out, is the gym downstairs done?" Munch questioned.

"Almost. The flooring is done and we have the cardio machines, but the weights still need to come in."

"You put a gym in your basement?" Ken questioned. "That's awesome."

Alex offered a tour for those who were interested.

"There will be a squat rack in that corner and dumbbells over here." There was a yoga corner, a punching bag, and cardio machines.

Ken and John looked around. Fin's son did a money symbol with his fingers, and John nodded. This was the life.

Alex led them up to the attic so they could see the artists' corner. "In my parent's house, I had a workspace just for doing art, and I wanted one that everyone could use for whatever projects, writing, painting, sculpting."

There was a writing desk and plenty of pens ready for someone to pick them up and press them to paper. There was also an easel on the opposite side.

"A place just to do art," Ken would kill for this kind of space.

"Kids only do art like one hour a week these days. I really think they should have more chances to be creative."

"Your kids are either going to be awesome or spoiled rotten," John told her.

"Can't they be both?"

* * *

The twins were eager to explore their new digs. Lorelei kept trying to get in all the boxes while Ollie wanted to get outside.

Now that the boys were gone, it was just the Cabots, and they decided to put off most of the unpacking until tomorrow.

Olivia couldn't believe it. "We have a house. This is real."

Alex kissed her. "Our dream has come true."

Their kiss got interrupted by a phone ringing.

"The Cabot residence," Alex said as someone called the landline.

"I was just making sure it works," Abbie teased. "Aw you're all moved in."

"Yes we are. The house is amazing, and I couldn't be happier."

"You cheesy wench, Rena needs to talk to you."

"I know this is kind of last minute, but can you be my maid of honor?" Serena asked her.

"Of course."

Serena explained why her sister was no longer allowed to be her maid of honor and it was quite a story.

And since Abbie hadn't committed to a best man yet, she decided to ask Olivia.

"Now don't get all cute and shit and steal the spotlight," Abbie threatened.

"Well, I was going to wear a tiara..." Alex threatened.

"Bitch."

"Ho!"

"Now that's friendship."

"Bet your sweet ass it is."

Once they got off the phone, Olivia asked, "I thought Serena's sister was going to be the moh."

"Well, Serena asked me first, like well before she was engaged, but when her sister found out, she got upset, so Serena asked me if I minded a switch, and I said that was fine." She didn't want to add to the Southerlyn family drama.

"But then her sister started dating this born again Christian who keeps prophesizing to them about the sin of their union, so Abbie told him to fuck off and then the sister got mad and started yelling at Abbie." It just derailed into chaos.

The sister threatened to boycott the wedding if they didn't apologize to the boyfriend, so Serena disinvited her instead.

"So we're going to walk into a world of drama."

"Pretty much." Alex knew this wasn't the last of Serena's sister, but she wouldn't leave her buddy hanging.

Two Weeks Later

Alex and Olivia were ready for their housewarming party. They were unpacked, the artwork was up, and they got all of their odds and ends in place.

Olivia was outside playing with the twins while Alex was prepping the food.

Alex was just finishing her secret spice blend when the doorbell rang.

 _I should have told people to just go into the back._

She went to the door and got quickly ambushed by Serena.

"Get over here," Serena gave her a big hug.

It was hard to breathe. "I'm not going anywhere Rena."

Abbie was hauling in their bag. They were staying in the guest room for the night. "She had a fight with her sister this morning."

"How about we get you a drink?"

"Where's the rest of your family?" Serena looked up and saw none of them inside.

"They're playing outside."

"I think I'll take my drink outside. I need to stretch after being in that car for four hours." Abbie did not want to stop, lest she get behind the traffic.

Alex poured some gin in a glass and added lemonade to it. "Here you are."

Serena took a big gulp. "Just what I needed, Sis."

They headed outside where Olivia had one twin in her arms and the other on her leg.

"Lorelei, Ollie, Aunt Serena's here."

"Auntie!" Lorelei called her.

Serena's heart just about exploded. She went over to the twins and Lorelei climbed on her lap. The young Cabot looked just like her mother. Serena knew in her heart that she wanted a little Abbie running around her house someday.

Alex headed back inside to keep ahead of the work. This was their first social event at the new house. She wanted it to go well.

Abbie helped herself to a beer in the fridge. "I must admit this is a chic house." The color scheme for the first floor were burnt sienna, yellow, and red which made a stunning combination and on the walls were paintings Alex had collected over the years and photographs of the family, including a picture from their engagement, one of their wedding and another they took on the twin's first birthday. It was homey yet glamorous.

"I wanted to feel like a family home, but still have a classy tone to it. It will be great for dinner parties."

"You're turning into your mother."

"You take that back!"

Abbie ruffled her hair. "I don't mean it in a bad way. It's just that most mothers of one year olds don't think of classy when they describe their house."

Alex shrugged. She is a Cabot after all.

* * *

An hour later, the other guests started appearing at the house. Casey and Munch arrived at the same time.

"This place is fucking huge," Casey said, as she got ready to ring the bell. She looked up and saw that the house was large enough to be a two family home.

"Just wait until you get inside."

"Come in," Alex yelled after she heard the doorbell ring.

Casey opened the door and gasped. "Holy fucking shit." It was like a fucking movie set, everything just right. The floors were clean. There were no errant toys or clothes. It had a sparkle to it.

"The twins are outside, and we're trying not teach them any four letter words today," Alex chastised.

"Oh right. Seriously, these are some digs!"

Munch offered a bottle of Rosé.

"Why thank you," Alex put it in the fridge for later. "Abbie and Serena are already here. They're outside with Liv and the twins. Would you like to start off with a drink?"

"Beer for me," Munch requested.

"Me too."

Alex opened two beers and handed them over.

"Can we help with anything?"

"If you could take this outside and put it next to the table," Alex handed Munch a cooler of water, sodas, and beers. This way, people only had to go inside for mixed drinks.

In the kitchen, Alex was making a warm potato salad with scallions, capers, green apples, and mustard. She also had a goat cheese, pecan, poached pear, and arugula salad to serve.

Casey shook her head internally. Even the food looked perfect. Casey wasn't itching for the big house, wife, and kids. She'd settle for a steady boyfriend or girlfriend right now, but Alex Cabot seemed to have the perfect life.

The duo headed outside, and it was a perfect day, blue skies with innocent clouds, warm but not too hot.

Olivia greeted them and then went inside get the meat. The sausages and the chicken would take longer to cook than the burgers, so she wanted to start them now.

"Munch, Novak," Abbie called to them. "How's life?"

Abbie had Ollie and Serena had Lorelei. They were comfortably seated in patio chairs, their drinks on the table in front of them.

Munch was always happy to see the twins. He started playing peekaboo with Lorelai.

Casey was content to just drink her beer, but Ollie crawled over to her. She couldn't help but smile as he climbed up the chair onto her lap. He tried to reach for her beer, but Casey took it out of his grasp.

"You're too young for beer," she told him.

The young boy pouted.

The others cracked up.

"I think Teflon has the same pout," Abbie laughed.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, the Stablers arrived and the number of guests more than doubled.

They could hear people in the yard and went around the house to the back.

Like the perfect host, Alex came forward to greet their new guests and offer drinks. Olivia waved from the grill, which she had been working.

Alex gave Kathy a tour of the house while her husband and children mingled with the others.

Kathy would have a hard time denying that she had an innocent crush on the ADA. She was gorgeous, kind, and somehow always had her hand in amazing things. "This house is beautiful." Kathy couldn't believe it when she saw the kitchen. It was huge, full of gadgets, and very organized.

"Thank you. I wanted to give it a homey feel but keep an elegance to it."

"Oh the artwork does that. Are these originals?" The paintings and photos were exquisite.

"Yes. I got them during my travels over the years."

After showing her the first floor, they went down to the basement where they had the gym.

"You can work out anytime."

"I know. Sometimes I miss my morning runs because Liv has a case or the twins are fussy, so now I can sneak in a workout whenever."

"Are you a runner?"

"Five miles every morning, although I was more diligent before the twins came along."

"How do you have the energy for that?"

"It's therapeutic for me. The first mile always sucks, but once you get that runner's high."

"Where do you run now?"

"Prospect Park when I can. I love it."

Now that most of the guests were here, Olivia started putting hamburgers on the grill. She had already put on the chicken and the sausage since they would take longer to cook. "Who wants what?"

Elliot went to check out the grill. "This is a very nice grill." It was huge, had a digital display, and the racks could be raised and lowered to better control the temperature of the cook.

 _I had a simple charcoal grill for the longest time._ It must be nice to have it made.

Olivia didn't know much about grills, but the guy in the store said this one would do nicely. "Thanks."

"So how do you like Brooklyn?"

"It's great. The neighbors that we met were very nice. Alex loves the running trails in Prospect Park, and we've gotten some great pizza."

Kathy couldn't believe it when she saw their bedroom. "When was that photo taken?" It was the one Alex had blown up for Olivia for their wedding night. They put it over their bed.

"When I was in law school. I agreed to model for a charity event and the project grew from there."

Alex just reached a new level of hot. She showed Kathy the other rooms and then they went up to the attic. "This is our art space."

"Oh and I thought I was jealous before. This is so lovely."

"I want a place for people to be able to work without interruption and not mess up the rest of the house if they're using a messy medium."

"All my kids do is make a mess when they try to do art projects at home."

"If you wanted to drop them off for an afternoon, they're welcome to use this space."

"You wouldn't mind."

"No. It's an art space. People should create in it."

 _I may need to take you up on that._

* * *

By the time the mothers got downstairs, people were in line getting meat put on their plates.

"Where have you been?" Abbie questioned.

"I was showing her around the house."

"Took you a while."

"It's a big house," Kathy told her. "The kids will love running around in it."

"When will you add to the brood?" Abbie questioned.

Alex winked. "Soonish."

"Give me more than that."

"Not yet but with all deliberate speed."

Abbie was about to scold her for the bad legal reference when a clinking caught everyone's attention.

Trevor still had to walk with a walker. He would likely be off it by August, but he didn't want to stay cooped up in his penthouse all summer. Elsa was right at his side.

Alex greeted them both with hugs. "Thanks for coming."

Elliot caught the jealous look in Olivia's eyes when Alex embraced Trevor. _Interesting_.

"This is so nice," Elsa said as she handed over the wine they brought.

"Let me introduce you to everyone." Elsa had heard about everyone here from Alex.

"Abbie, this is Elsa Mattson."

Abbie greeted her with her southern drawl. "What is a lovely girl like you doing with a punk like Trevor?"

Elsa blushed and let go of a chuckle. "I was his nurse while he was comatose, and we connected when he woke up."

"I imagine he'd make a good boyfriend while asleep. Langan, your girlfriend's out of your league."

"I'm well aware," he told Abbie before grabbing a seat.

Soon, everyone had food and drink. Bruce Springsteen played on the speakers outside and the party was on.

"These burgers are so good," Casey growled as she bit into hers. They were a blend of chuck, NY Strip, and rib eye meat and they were well seasoned. Alex liked using pancetta in her ground meat, but Munch wouldn't be able to eat it in that case.

Dickie had been disappointed when there were no hotdogs, but "these sausages are really good."

Alex made her rounds, offering drinks or second helpings on food.

Eventually, Olivia pulled her into her lap. "Relax, Baby. Everyone is well fed and happy."

"I know but …"

"Hosting is in your blood. How about you host from right here."

Alex leaned back against her wife and Olivia kissed her cheek.

"Seriously, you two are so mushy, you're gonna make me puke," Abbie complained.

"Can't help it," Alex told her. "She had me at hello."

Olivia kept her arm around Alex's waist. Alex nestled in closer

After the other guests left, Serena abducted Alex for wedding planning. The twins were asleep. Olivia and Abbie grabbed some beers and turned on a baseball game, Yankees vs. Astros.

"So how excited are you for the wedding?"

"Heck, I'd get married in a barn tomorrow if I thought Rena would go for it. I just want her to be my wife."

"When Alex said I do, oh it was the best thing that ever happened to me, well until the twins were born."

"I just want it to go smoothly. I have this lurking feeling that her sister will do something dumb."

"Maybe she will, but it will only reflect on her."

The wedding was going to be at Serena's grandmother's house. "There's a gazebo outside where the minister will be and we'll be getting married on the steps." Serena showed Alex her sketches.

"My father will walk me up here. Abbie's father is going to walk her up right here and you and Olivia will be there waiting for us."

"I'm so happy for you," Alex said once more as she started looking at arrangements. Serena still had to decide what flowers she would get and they were still working on the menu.

"And I you, wife, kids, promotion. Do you realize how much has changed in the past two years?"

Alex paused for a moment. "Everything, everything has changed."

Alex wasn't the only one who had a brand new life from two years ago. Olivia pretty much had it all. She went from having a terrible relationship with her drunken mother to a pretty decent one. Instead of working around the clock and not taking care of herself, she had a reason to come home, three reasons to come home.

She had a house that was more amazing than anything she had ever dreamed of and she had a real family, immediate, extended, she had it all. Yet, she was still frustrated.

"I still can't stand Trevor," Olivia admitted to Abbie. He actually is a nice guy despite his profession. "He hasn't done anything to me. He agreed to the adoption. He hasn't tried to insert himself into our lives or try to parent the twins. He seems perfectly happy with Elsa, but when I see him near Alex, I just get mad."

Abbie knew those feels. "Serena has an ex that she still sees regularly for work. She's a nice dame. Everyone likes her, but I fucking hate her. Sometimes, there's just that one ex who rubs you the wrong way. It's not a bad thing. You just have to remember that you are looking at him through that filter and not to just go off on him because you want to."

Olivia nodded "They just have a bond that I will never be able to …"

Abbie got her serious face on. "Olivia Benson Cabot, you are their mother. He's their sperm donor. Don't ever let yourself think otherwise."

Alex had told Olivia this many times, but sometimes it was hard.


	4. Chapter 4

Fourth of July

Alex and Olivia decided to take their children to Prospect Park to celebrate the holiday. They wanted to show the twins the fireworks and there would be a lot of families outside, enjoying the gorgeous weather and colorful show.

Ollie, however, was in his I don't want to wear clothes phase, and he was running around the house butt-naked.

"Mommy!" he pointed and laughed before running away.

Lorelai didn't mind wearing her clothes. She was too busy snooping through her Mama's purse to think about running around. Her Mama often had candies in her purse and Lorelai liked to have first dibs.

"Olivia, get your son to put on his clothes."

"He's only my son when he's acting up," Olivia retorted.

The detective had just gotten out of the shower. Earlier, she had been making good use of the weights downstairs and it showed. Her waist was narrower now and her abs was starting to become visible. It would not last long if the pregnancy took, but the brunette wanted to get as fit as she could before she got relegated to bed rest.

Olivia threw on a robe and then went to catch her son. "Ollie, come to Mommy!"

She found him in the game room trying to climb on the seat and scooped him up. "Don't you have a cute little bottom?" She got him into another diaper and put on his Fourth of July outfit: blue shorts with a white shirt and red suspenders.

Lorelai was already wearing her red, white, and blue dress, but her face was covered in chocolate.

"You messy girl," Alex got her cleaned up and then they were ready to go.

"Do you have the food?"

Alex had made sandwiches, grilled pork shoulder with hoisin sauce and pineapple salsa. She also made a sweet potato salad and fruit cups. "It's all in my basket."

Olivia had the other bag, which had their sunscreen, diapers, baby powder, water bottles, and an umbrella for some shade. "Let's go."

They got the twins in the back seat and buckled them in their car seats.

"They're so cute," Alex loved their little outfits. She took a picture of them to send to her mother.

Olivia kissed her wife. They turned forward and Olivia put the car in reverse.

"Zoom zoom!" Lorelai called out. She liked it when Mommy drove fast.

Ten minutes later, they were getting the twins out of the car and looking for a spot to have dinner.

There were plenty of families running around in the park, young adults drinking beer out of coolers, and couples canoodling on benches.

Olivia found the perfect spot. It was a flat section near the top of a hill, which would give them a good view of the fireworks.

They set down their blanket and got the twins settled.

"Mama, hungry!" Ollie knew who had the goods.

"We'll eat soon."

She got the napkins out and tucked one into each twin's collar to serve as a bib. She knew how they ate.

The sandwiches were cut in half to make them easier for the twins to hold and eat.

"These look amazing, Al." Olivia was salivating internally at the sight of the sandwiches. Alex had grilled the bread and then melted some butter on top. It all looked scrumptious.

"The pork is pastured and the bread is whole wheat potato bread." Alex had seen a documentary on factory farming the month before. It was so disturbing that Alex donated a sizable amount to the local Humane Society, and resolved to have only have meat and animal products from humane sources: pastured pork, free range and organic eggs, milk form grass fed cows, etc. In addition, the food was healthier when the animals that produced it were well cared for, more omega 3s, less saturated fat. Alex wanted to keep her family healthy and happy.

"YUM!" Lorelai shoved the sandwich right into her face. Ollie followed suit and the Cabots enjoyed their meal together.

* * *

Abbie and Serena were enjoying the fourth on the roof of their apartment building. There was a pool and a grill on the rooftop that everyone wanted to make use of. Abbie had grilled their steaks on the grill downstairs and then brought them up to the roof.

"We avoided that miserable line," Serena commented as they saw four people trying to use the grill at once and ten more people waiting for a turn.

They had grilled ribeye steaks, garlic mashed potatoes and a bottle of Cabernet to share. Serena set up a table and they started to eat.

"Now this is what I call Fourth of July," Abbie's family would always grill steaks for the Fourth. You can take a Carmichael out of Texas, but you'll never get the Texas out of Abbie.

Serena took out her cell phone to take a picture of her and Abbie. The two lovers grinned before Serena snapped the picture.

"It's going to be my background now."

Abbie kissed her. "I love you."

They stayed to watch the fireworks show and then headed to bed (but not to sleep)

* * *

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The twins squealed at the noise from the fireworks, but they loved the colors.

Fireworks of all colors went off, making different shapes and patterns in the sky. Alex pointed out to colors to them.

"Lorelai, it's red, white, and blue, like your dress."

"Boom!"

After the show, the twins were ready to sleep. They were up past their bedtime, and they spent the evening playing ball with their moms.

"Let's get the little ones home," Olivia said as she felt Ollie nodding off on her.

Alex had a twinkle in her eye. "Why don't we make our own fireworks tonight?"

The summer flew right by. Suddenly, it was August, and Olivia was trying her fourth IUI treatment.

They had assumed it would take 6-8 for it to work, but Olivia was already anxious. "We won't run out will we?" she asked her wife.

Alex laughed. "No, Trey saved enough for three kids, and if we do get low, we can consider IVF."

"Okay. Maybe the fourth time's a charm."

They had their fourth round with pogo and then they went home.

"What do you want to do now?" Alex asked Olivia.

"Read to the twins."

They were 15 months old and just getting interested in picture books. Olivia would read them Dr. Seuss. Alex would read them a French book, like Un Deux Trois.

"You're going to confuse them."

"Little kids adapt better to foreign languages than adults."

"But they don't even know English."

Alex thought they would rise to the challenge well. "Maybe they'll like immersion school."

"Those still exist?" Olivia thought those phased out after World War 2 when foreign languages became "dirty" particularly German, Italian, and Japanese.

"I went to one for two years."

"You did?"

"Fourth and fifth grade."

"There's still so much for me to learn about you."

"And I need to know more about you." The two lovers shared a kiss.

* * *

Three weeks later, they took another pregnancy test. They had five minutes to wait and Olivia had the shakes.

Alex curled behind her, letting her wife be little spoon. "No matter what happens, we still have each other and an amazing family."

"I know, and I feel selfish since so many people..."

Alex kissed her. "There's nothing selfish about wanting another baby," Alex promised her.

The women shared a series of kisses and were about to get horizontal on the couch when the buzzer went off. Olivia went up to check and let out a yelp. Alex knew that yelp. She had made it almost two years before. She did not have to check. "We're having a baby!"

Olivia nodded with a big smile on her face. She was going to give her wife a baby.

Alex hugged her wife, pressing them together. "I love you so much."

"I love you more."

Three weeks later, the morning sickness began. Olivia was about to say "smells good," when Alex made breakfast but instead, she had to run into the bathroom and puke.

"And here it is," Alex said. She put the eggs away and made a fruit smoothie for her wife.

Olivia hated being sick. "This is going to suck, isn't it?" she looked at herself in the mirror. Poor thing had no idea.

Alex packed ginger ale, crackers, tea, and a banana for her wife for lunch. "I take it your symptoms started today."

Olivia nodded as she came into the kitchen. "You were smart to put a toothbrush for me in every bathroom."

"I should also give you one to bring to work." Alex came out with a mini toothbrush and toothpaste.

The detective wanted to talk to Cragen first thing in the morning, but she had to rush to the bathroom first.

Damn! She brushed her teeth for the third time this morning before going to see the Captain.

"Can I have a minute?"

"Always Olivia."

She was never one to beat around the bush, so she just said it. "I'm pregnant."

He looked shocked, and then he smiled. "Congratulations."

"My doctor told me not to be out in the field after the first trimester, but I think I'll lose it doing DD5s for six months."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'd like to transfer to Computer Crimes after my first trimester and then stay there until the baby's born."

He nodded. "Whatever you need. When do I need to replace you by?"

"Seven weeks."

"I'll get to looking. You're not easy to replace Liv."

Olivia saw Elliot and wondered if she should tell him before she told the others. He got mad when he "was the last to know" last time, but he was a bit of a party pooper when it came to her and Alex.

 _Focus on work. Deal with this drama later._

* * *

After six months of physical therapy, Trevor could finally walk on his own. He still didn't feel like he had before the coma, but it was quite a relief not to need his walker like he was an 80-year-old man.

He still needed physical therapy, but he no longer needed an in house nurse.

"I'm glad that you're starting at the clinic."

Elsa found a job at a clinic that treats indigent families.

"Eager to get rid of me," she teased before kissing him.

"No, it just felt like you couldn't really be my girlfriend because I was your patient."

"Trevor …"

"Just let me finish. You've been nothing but amazing Elsa, and all I wanted was to spoil you, but I couldn't because I needed you to help me get to the bathroom or to bring me lunch.

Now, it's different. I can be the one you vent to when you have a rough day at work. I can wine you and dine you like I wanted to the first day we met. This is a fresh start for us."

Elsa gave him a big kiss. "I never minded taking care of you."

"I know, but now I can take care of you too."

They shared one more kiss before she had to go to work. Trevor was ridiculously in love. He never thought he would feel so fucking mushy. "I know it's not even 9AM, but I want a beer," he grumbled.

He was set to go back to the office in two weeks. He had a feeling; he'd need all the beer.

* * *

Abbie and Serena each got a party before they got married. The guys from the 1-6 and Casey took out Abbie. Alex, Kathy, Aunt Margo, and Liz Donnelly took out Serena.

"I don't care if you see any strippers," Serena told her girlfriend, "but if you …"

Abbie gave her a big kiss. "The only woman who gets to touch me is you. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Just remember that after you've had 10 drinks."

"I won't forget, plus Liv and Casey won't let me forget."

"I know. I'm just jealous."

"You have nothing to be jealous of, Love."

The guys took Abbie to Hill Country Barbeque, which did 2-dollar well shots on Friday nights.

When they got there, Olivia was surprised to see Trevor Langan waiting for them.

"The first rounds on me," he said trying to break the ice.

"Look who the cat dragged in," Abbie teased.

"Okay, my girlfriend is at Serena's party, and she banned me from the penthouse. She said I watch too much tv."

Fin started laughing at him.

"Where are your firm friends?"

"They're not my friends," Trevor told them. "They make me money. I don't have to like them."

"You're a real charmer," Abbie retorted.

He shrugged. "If you met my partner, you would probably throw a drink at him within five minutes. I signed with him because he's good at making deals, not because I wanted him to be my best man."

"It's only been two minutes. I might throw a drink at you yet."

* * *

While Trevor was trying to find his way into this close-knit group, Elsa fit into her group charmingly.

She was normally reserved when it came to social situations, but she liked Alex and had a good feeling she would like Alex's friends.

The ladies went to a sushi restaurant where you eat off the ladies.

Kathy blushed when she saw the place. "It's always an interesting experience when I go out with you all."

"I wonder if Trevor and his old boys club come to places like this."

"No, but they do like going to Hooters," Alex told her.

"Really? Hooters."

"They could afford somewhere classier, but they're not classier."

Elsa rolled her eyes.

"I like her," Liz decided.

"So tell us your story," Margo said as she sipped on her drink.

"Not too much to tell. I'm from a small no name town in Pennsylvania. I wanted to work in healthcare since I was a little girl. The best offer I got out of nursing school was at Mercy, so I moved to New York by myself, and hopefully, this year at Christmas, my mother will finally stop asking me when am I going to slow down work and find a boyfriend."

"How long have you been in New York?"

"Four years."

"And how do you like working at the hospital?"

"I don't work there anymore. I quit to take care of Trevor after I ran out of vacation days, and now that he's up and running, I found a new job at the Grayson Clinic."

"They work with families in the lower east side?"

"Yes. It isn't as fancy as Mercy, but it's nice to be able to give more attention to the patients and their families. It's a lot smaller."

* * *

While John and Abbie threw miscellaneous insults at each other, the rest of the table wanted to know more about Trevor Langan.

"So what's your story?" Elliot questioned.

"I grew up in Dover, and like most society children, I was expected to take over the family business. My family is a corporate lawyer, and I was supposed to go to law school and come back to join his firm, but I got into a tiff with my father before I graduated and went into criminal defense instead, starting a different firm."

"What was the tiff about?"

He chugged the rest of his beer. "My father and Walter Cabot were contemplating merging their firms, and my father wanted Alex and I to get married and for us to eventually take over this new super firm.

At the time, I wasn't terribly opposed to the idea of marry Alex, but I didn't want it to be a business transaction. I don't even think Walter mentioned it to her because if he tried to barter her for a firm, and she knew about it, she would have burned the firm to the ground."

Fin started cracking up. "Oh, I would pay to see that."

Olivia had no reason to hate Trevor but she did. Her father practically tried to sell her to Trevor like she was chattel, which made her mad, but at least he was good enough to not try and buy.

"So you've known Alex for a long time."

"Her whole life. Her brother was my best friend. We did everything together. Our beach houses were across the street."

"What was Alex like as a kid?" Abbie wanted to know.

"She was a cocky little shit, but she had the resume to back it up: perfect grades, good at sports, had boys falling over themselves, then had girls falling over themselves. She took after Trey."

Trevor started telling them a story about this one girl who was bullying a nerdy kid at their school and when Alex stood up for her, she started bullying Alex too. "So Alex put itching powder in her shampoo, so the more she washed her hair, the itchier it got. The girl's mother took her into school and reported her as having lice, and then everyone teased her for it."

"How did you know it was Alex?" Casey questioned.

"On the last day of school, she made a point of telling her, in front of all her friends."

Trevor went onto another story this one was about him and Trey when Olivia started to turn green.

About a minute later, she ran into the bathroom.

Trevor finished his story and said he was going to the bathroom, but he really ordered a ginger ale from the bar and had it ready when Olivia got out.

"What's this?" she grumbled at him.

"Ginger ale. That's what you drink for morning sickness, right?"

She took the cup. "How did you?"

"You're drinking nonalcoholic beer, and you looked ready to puke every time the waitress brought fish around you."

"Alex and I haven't …"

"I'm not going to say anything. I know she'd kill me if I did."

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because Alex loves you. She's my friend, and you make her happier than I've ever seen her."

"You're not mad about …"

He shook his head. "There was a time I wanted to marry her, but I wasn't in love with her. Trey and I were pretty much brothers, and he was depressed when he went to Harvard. I don't know if it was a suicide or not, but he knew that he was barely hanging on.

About two weeks before he OD'D, he called me sounding hysterical, and he made me promise that if anything happened to him that I would protect Alex at all costs, and when he died, a part of her died. I know because it happened to me too. I wanted to marry her because we understood each other, and I thought that since Alex and I were friends, we could at least make each other happier more so than most of the parents we knew growing up.

She was right to say no. Most of the people in society don't marry for love. They marry for financial stability or need of an heir or insert any other reason, and Alex wouldn't settle. She wouldn't have married you unless you were everything that she wanted and needed, and I want the twins to be raised thinking that is normal. If it isn't, it should be."

Olivia still had her jealousy, but she didn't hate him anymore. "You're not so bad, Langan."

"I try. Now let's see if we can get Abbie too drunk to stand up."

"Now you're talking."

* * *

The ladies went to the same club they had taken Alex to for her bachelorette party, but this time, they were doing a fire spinning show outside, semi-clad women wielding poi, firebreathing, or using fire staffs as they danced around.

"This is hot, and I don't mean to make a bad pun," Elsa told them.

"Olivia would love this," Alex commented.

"Where are the others?" Maggie asked.

"They're at Her Melons again," Kathy grumbled.

"That's a real place?" Elsa questioned.

"Abbie better not let their melons anywhere near her."

"I don't know why they bought Olivia a dance there. She was never going to accept it."

"What?" Serena questioned. "We didn't buy her anything."

"Then why did that slutty cheerleader try to climb on top of her?"

Serena shrugged. "I don't know who bought her, but Abbie and I didn't."

Alex assumed Stabler did it on his own, dirty little liar.

The grill was nice and hot. Olivia put the corn down. She usually just grilled it plain, but Alex gave her a spice blend to brush on it first.

Her Melons did the same show every Friday. Their patrons were usually too drunk to complain.

"This place is nasty," Olivia complained.

"I feel like I might have gotten an STD walking through the door," Trevor retorted.

"I need some Hennessy!" Abbie insisted.

Five dancers and many shots later, Abbie was blind drunk.

"Now who's gonna show me her tits. Olivia, take off that shirt."

The guys were all laughing at her.

Olivia gave her a look. "Girl, I'm gonna let that slide because you're too drunk to know your own name right now, but don't do anything to make Serena and Alex kill you."

"You're no fun. Casey, what are you hiding in there?"

"Nothing, for you."

"Aw, do you even like girls? If you don't, you should."

Casey was bi-curious but she didn't advertise it, especially not to Abbie.

The naughty nurse stripper came over and thought Abbie was easy money. Abbie was so drunk that she puked on her instead, getting them all kicked out the club.

"I can't believe you got banned from Her Melons," Trevor told her.

"Shut up Langan! I need some water."

Munch laughed at her, but then he threw up too.

"Fucking amateurs," Olivia teased.

* * *

By the time Olivia got home, Alex was waiting for her with a bottle of ginger ale and a pint of Ben and Jerry's.

"You really do love me!"

Alex kissed her forehead. "Bet your sweet ass I do."

"Even when I'm fat and wobble like a whale?"

"I'll get you a wheelchair and will push you around."

Olivia pouted and Alex laughed.

"You jerk! You're supposed to say I won't get fat."

"Fishing for complements," Alex teased. "You know you're gorgeous."

The two women converged onto the ice cream and together, they killed it.


	5. Chapter 5

One week later, they were all headed for CT to enjoy a good old Southerlyn wedding.

Maureen and Serena Benson were watching the twins for the weekend. Alex didn't want the teen to burn out, so she would get a two-hour break every four hours and Serena would take them at night.

"I have Maureen's money here, and if you need anything just call."

"Have fun," Serena told them before shooing them out the house. She was happy to be trusted with their little tykes. "They'll be just fine."

Alex and Olivia had to field calls from Abbie and Serena the whole way.

"Do you have the rings?"

"Yes, Abbie, we have the rings."

"Do you have my something borrowed?"

"Yes, Serena, we have you covered."

The two brides were both a mess and Alex was ready to slap both of them before she even got there. "They need to chill!"

Olivia snorted. "You remember how nervous we were last year."

"Yeah, I do."

"Let's be nice to them now and tease them once they get back from their honeymoon."

"Now you're talking."

* * *

That evening, Alex and Olivia saw the Carmichaels and the Southerlyns together for the first time. The rehearsal dinner had Abbie's parents, her playboy younger brother Gavin, Serena's parents, her grandmother, and of course, Alex and Olivia all at one table, while the extended relatives were all around the hall.

It didn't take long for the two families to start bickering.

Gavin made the mistake of asking Serena where her sister was and her mother yelled at him. Abbie's mother yelled at Serena's mother for yelling at her son, and before they knew it, everyone was insulting each other.

Abbie was a gold digger. Serena was a society brat who was shrugging through life while Abbie busted her ass off.

It was embarrassing, well not to Gavin. He thought it was hilarious.

"What is wrong with our families?" Serena whispered.

"Too much money and not enough sense."

Alex tried to break it up, but someone shoved her to the ground. Trying to not fall, she grabbed the tablecloth and dropped food all over one half of the table. Before she knew it, she started a massive food fight.

Alex crawled for cover under the table.

Olivia thought she and the baby should skedaddle and used the opportunity to go call her mother.

Serena was reading Les Mis.

"Hey Mom."

"Olivia how's the rehearsal dinner?"

"It devolved into a food fight."

"I'm sad I missed it. The twins are fine. We fed them dinner, and they're going to go to bed soon."

"I don't know if I'll survive this weekend, Mom."

"Of course you will. You take on rogue criminals every day, you can deal with some spoiled brats."

"I think they might be more dangerous."

"Well I still think you'll be fine. Plus, you have to stay strong for my grandbaby."

"You saw the vitamins."

"I did, and you've been so pukey. I assumed you were pregnant if you weren't going to stay in bed this weekend. How far along are you?"

"Almost eight weeks."

"You have a long way to go Hon."

"I hate the puking."

"It will pass. Alex better be taking good care of you."

"She is, but she might be mad. I kind of fled the scene without her."

"Olivia Benson Cabot, you turn your butt around and rescue your wife. I will not have the Bensons thought of as wimps."

"Yes Mom."

Alex had made her own escape, using a server tray as a shield.

"Nice of you to come back," she snapped.

"Sorry, you know how my hormones are. I couldn't deal with it."

Alex knew how pregnancy hormones could just take over the brain. "Let's get you upstairs Baby."

* * *

The hall they had rented fined the family for making a mess, and of course both families wanted the other one to pay the bill.

"The groom's family is supposed to pay for the rehearsal dinner."

"The bride's family started this stupid fight and wouldn't let us have the dinner at a BBQ joint like we wanted."

"Who eats barbeque before a wedding?"

"Fun loving people, unlike you!"

Abbie and Serena had fled an hour ago and decided fuck the rule; they were sharing a bed tonight. They needed each other to survive their parents.

"Why are our parents fucking crazy?" Abbie questioned.

"This is why we don't live in CT or Texas."

"And you bet your sweet ass we aren't ever gonna."

The next morning had everyone praying for a miracle that the wedding could go off without too much of a hitch.

Alex was there to get Serena dressed and to try and keep her sane.

She had her grandmother's handkerchief for something old. Her dress was new. She was borrowing Alex's necklace for something borrowed and her underwear was blue.

"You look gorgeous," and Serena did in her white Vera Wang dress. Her hair was in an updo and her makeup was flawless.

"I can't believe this is it."

Only five years in the making, 2 for pining and three for dating.

"You two are made for each other. Who else can keep our crazy Texan in line?"

Abbie was panicking. "What if I trip? What if I forget my vows? What if I?"

"Abigail Lauren Carmichael, I have never known you to trip or forget your own words. You could talk even when you were vomiting drunk. You will be fine. Just say how you feel."

"I feel ... like this dress is too tight."

Olivia rolled her eyes.

Thirty minutes later, Olivia went down the aisle with Abbie and Abbie's father.

Soon after, Alex went down the aisle and then Mr. Southerlyn walked down with Serena.

The minister, who was from the Unitarian Universalists' Church, started the ceremony. "Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls, we are delighted today to …"

He gave his customary speech and then it was time for them to exchange the rings. Abbie took a gold band from Olivia and put it on Serena's finger.

"I remember when we first met because we were arguing about the merits of the mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. I expected you to side with me because you were a fellow prosecutor, but I quickly learned that you would never let any job define who you are or what you believe in.

There are 1000 reasons I could give for why I love you, but the most important reason is your heart. It's big enough to carry you, me, and our jobs. I'd be lost without you, and I hope I never have to be lost."

Serena went next. "Before I met you, I heard that you were a player and that you were inherently unattainable. I never liked being told I couldn't get what I want, and so I was determined to make you chase me, and I'm so glad you did.

It's your energy that keeps me going when I want to crash and your love that protects me when everything's going to hell. I fucking love you Abbie Carmichael and I always will."

They didn't even wait for the I dos. The couple started kissing and everyone started cheering.

While the wedding party was getting photographed, everyone else was left to mingle.

The group was a diverse bunch. There were many society people on Serena's side, and a lot of cops, lawyers and Texans on Abbie's side.

John was already on the prowl, looking for a single lady somewhere.

Fin and Casey had a bet on how many women would turn him down tonight. He bet three and she bet five. Fin thought he'd lose his nerve after three. Casey thought he would too, but then he'd get drunk and start again.

Elliot and Kathy came without the kids. There wasn't much for them to do at this wedding, and Maureen would be babysitting anyway.

Alex couldn't believe how many pictures they had to take. "We didn't even get married. Why was I in so many photos?"

"You know they needed like 500 in case 485 of them were bad."

Alex laughed. "Let's get you some ginger ale and snuggle somewhere before this reception starts."

They found the lounge and Olivia drank ginger ale while Alex gave her a foot massage.

"My feet aren't swollen."

"But they will be. Enjoy this now while you can."

Olivia couldn't complain. "Ooh that feels nice."

Two hours later, the wedding reception started. They had the reception inside the house, which had its own banquet hall.

They announced Abigail and Serena Carmichael.

The couple shared their first dance to "Come Away With Me," by Norah Jones.

"They look good together," Olivia said to Alex as they watched from their table.

Serena's head was resting on Abbie's shoulder. They looked like they were oblivious to the rest of the world.

"I knew they'd get there, eventually."

* * *

Despite the hostilities the night before, both the Southerlyns and the Carmichaels managed to act cordially this evening.

Gavin decided not to speak at all, and no food was thrown.

They had a seven-course dinner, with speeches in between. This was going to be a long night, and to help the night go faster, they served a lot of booze.

This was to some table's benefit but it ended up being to the Langans' detriment.

Trevor was seated with his parents. Elsa was his date.

"Why did you bring your nurse to the wedding?" Audra questioned.

"She's no longer my nurse. She's my girlfriend."

"What?"

Trevor didn't repeat himself. Instead, he just squeezed Elsa's hand.

The matriarch had plenty of questions: who were her parents, where did she go to school, did she plan on being a stay at home mother.

"Mom, what is it with all of these questions?" They had only been really dating for four and a half months.

"You can never be too careful these days."

Trevor Sr. managed to change the subject, but that only lasted for so long. By the end of the dinner, Audra Langan was wasted and she started making accusations.

"This is all your fault," she yelled at Alex.

"You should go sit down. You look ready to fall over," Alex decided not to respond to the substance of what she was saying, mainly because whatever she was saying was probably garbage.

"If only you had married Trevor instead of that delinquent cop. Now he's cavorting with a nurse, out of all of the things I ever heard. Doesn't he know that society men fuck nurses behind their wives' backs? They don't marry them."

 _So you wanted me to marry Trevor so he could cheat on me with Elsa._

"I really think you should drink some water."

"You can't tell me what to do!"

Alex gave up and walked away.

Audra looked around and saw Trevor's ex-girlfriend Kim Greylek in attendance. "How are you doing dear?"

"Mrs. Langan, I'm doing just fine." Kim hadn't spoken to the Langans in years.

"I always thought that you and Trevor should have ended up together." She started handing Kim drinks and talking up her son to her.

90 minutes later, a very drunk Kim approached Trevor as Elsa watched from the hallway.

"Hey Trevor, how's it going?"

"Fine Kim."

She boxed him in before he could leave. "I've been thinking about us."

"There is no us."

"But there could be and there should be. I'm sure this Ellie girl is nice, but she's not from our world. We're stripes and no matter how smart or cute she is, she'll always be a spot."

Kim grabbed Trevor and kissed him. He shoved her away, but it was too late, Elsa was gone.

"What is wrong with you?" He went to look for Elsa, but he couldn't find her.

"Have you seen Elsa?" he asked Alex.

"No, but your mother drunkenly accosted me earlier. Maybe she had something to do with Elsa's disappearance."

"I hope not."

He tried calling her phone, but he got no answer. Finally, he approached his mother. "Where's Elsa?"

"Why would I know?"

"Well you already tore into Alex today and …"

"I had to sit back and watch as you lied in a coma, dead to the world, that blonde hussy over there married another woman and absconded with my grandchildren, and I have had enough. It is about time you take your life seriously and find a proper society girl to marry, not this street worker you found in some alley way!"

"You sent a drunk Kim my way," he realized. "Forget about seeing any of your grandchildren. I'm done with you!"

Of course Elsa had driven to the party, so he had to hire a car to drive him to New York.

 _I need to find her before it's too late._

When Trevor disappeared too, Alex assumed that he and Elsa decided to leave the wedding together. She didn't realize there was a problem until much later, when Trevor Sr. asked her if she had heard from his son.

"The last I saw him, he was looking for Elsa."

"I know that. Apparently Kim drunkenly kissed Trevor and started a whole fiasco."

Alex's eyes widened. "I'm sorry. I don't know where he is."

He wasn't answering his phone. Trevor Sr. hoped the altercation didn't get any worse.

Alex went to find her wife who was chatting with Kathy. She had deduced that Olivia was pregnant. "I've gone through it three times. I know the tells."

Olivia couldn't hide it. "We're going to announce it next month, when I'm out of the first trimester."

"Congrats. You and Alex must be really excited."

Alex slipped her arms around her wife. "Hey Kathy."

"Hey yourself. Already going for #3." Damn they must be stupid in love.

Of course she knows. "I couldn't wait to get a little Benson, and we didn't know how long IUI would take."

"Your secret is safe with me. I'll catch you two later." Kathy went to go find her husband.

"Apparently, I'm obviously pregnant. People keep noticing."

Alex kissed her forehead. "Let's dance."

Olivia led her to the dance floor. Alex had been too tired at their wedding to dance a lot. She was nearly nine months pregnant at the time.

Alex was taller, but her head rested on Olivia's neck. "I love feeling your body against me."

Olivia held Alex firmly to her. "Let's stay close while we can, before my belly gets too big."

Alex pulled her wife to her for a kiss.

* * *

Elsa was balling by the time she got back to her apartment. She should have known. It was too good to be true. She changed into pjs and put on The Notebook. About an hour into the movie, the doorbell rang.

Unsure of who it could be at this hour, she cautiously went to the door. It was Trevor holding a bouquet of lilies that he had bought from a street vendor on his way here.

She opened the door, but didn't let him in. "What are you doing here?"

"Elsa, I only want you. Kim means nothing to me."

"Then why did you kiss her?"

"I didn't," he insisted. "She drunkenly threw herself on me, and I pushed her away. I tried to find you right away, but you were already gone."

She looked into his eyes. Despite what she thought before, she didn't think he was lying.

"But what about your mother? She hates me."

"She hates everyone. I don't care what your last name is or how your parents earned a living. I just want you."

"But why? You could have any girl you want."

"Then can I have you because you are the only one I want?"

She wanted to but she was scared. "There will always be other Kims trying to get to you."

He made his way into the apartment and kissed her. "There's only one way to change that."


	6. Chapter 6

When Trevor didn't show up to any of his firm meetings on Monday, his father really flipped.

"This is ridiculous. He got into an argument with his ex and he flew the coup." Trevor wasn't at his apartment. He wasn't at Elsa's apartment. He seemed to be nowhere.

Mr. Langan called the police, but NYPD's hands were tied.

"He hired a driver to take him back to New York," the officer explained to Mr. Langan. "There's no evidence of foul play."

All of the calls Trevor Sr. made went to voicemail. It wasn't until Tuesday that he finally got a response.

"Trevor Langan III where have you been?"

"I got married."

"That's no reason to … you WHAT?"

He explained how mother tried to fix him up with Kim at the wedding and it freaked out Elsa. "I wanted her to know I wasn't going to run off and marry a society girl, so we got married."

"Tell me you got a prenup."

"Nope."

"Well you can sign a post …"

Trevor hung up. He was ready to start living his own life and his parents could either get down or lay down.

"My bra's too small," Olivia complained as she tried to get dressed. She was on the larger side of a C cup before but now she was in D territory.

Alex managed to find one of bras from when she was pregnant. "Try this one and I'll get you bras with a bigger cup size during my lunch break."

Alex couldn't help but grin.

"Stop smiling," Olivia scolded.

"I can't. My wife is giving me a wonderful baby, and your boobs are going to get huge." Alex kissed them before Olivia put on the bra.

"They're going to get sore soon, aren't they?"

"Probably, but you should stop puking soon."

"I guess that's a fair trade off."

Alex pulled her close. "It will all be worth it Babe."

Olivia eventually found fitting clothes and got herself to work. She was starting to show more quickly than she had expected. _I guess I will tell Elliot today._

She decided to wait until lunch to tell him. They went to a deli, and she got him a sandwich to soften the blow.

"What's this for?"

"You're going to be getting a new partner in a few weeks."

"What?"

"It's temporary, but it will be for a while."

"Where are you going?"

"Computer Crimes, for a few months and then maternity leave."

"You're pregnant?" He was baffled.

"Yes."

They're already having another kid? "You two didn't waste any time."

"We weren't sure how long the treatments would take."

"How did you two …"

"We used a donor," Olivia told him.

"Alex could have just rolled in the hay with Trevor again. It worked last time."

Olivia wanted to smack him.

Alex wasn't surprised by his reaction. "He won't be happy about anything that solidifies our relationship."

"I just don't get why he can't be happy for me."

"In order to be happy for you, he would have to let you go."

"Do you think he has feelings for me?"

"I think you were his safety net. When things are good with Kathy, he doesn't think about you, but when things are not as good, then he can fantasize that he could run off with you and be happy that way. With us, however, his safety net is gone. He has no where to turn when he's in a rut."

"Maybe this separation will be good for us. I can't be his Kathy 2.0."

They still had a couple of weeks before the first trimester was over, but Alex wanted to tell her family before they could hear it through the grapevine.

Her parents were hardly surprised, since they knew they had been trying. Aunt Margo and Uncle Bill were happy, but a bit surprised they went for another baby so soon.

"You'll have three children under 2 at the same time."

"I know, but we wanted them to be close in age, and it's not exactly predictable when IUI will take."

"Well, you know we're good for babysitting."

Aunt Liz retorted, "What are you running a goddamn Cabot factory?"

Alex didn't think that was a bad thing. "We were running low before."

Alex had been the end of the line. "I suppose that's true. How many spare heirs are you going for?"

"None. I want them to be whatever they want to be."

"Even if they're bank robbers," Liz teased.

"As long as one of them is a defense lawyer."

Ashley told her, "This is a world domination plot isn't it? Have a bunch of Cabots, each one will take over a different career field and then the Cabots will run it all. Can my kid be the Secretary of Defense when your kid is president?"

Alex laughed at her. "What makes you think baby Keisha won't be president?"

"She sleeps too much." She slept more than normal since she was born. It was so excessive that Ashley took him to the doctor to make sure there was nothing wrong with her.

"So she's the perfect baby," Alex told her.

"Very easy to care for. I have to wake her up to eat or else she'll sleep through the day."

Olivia told John and Fin the week before she was due to go to Computer Crimes.

"Damn, you Cabots are going to take over the world aren't you?" Munch teased.

"Something like that," Olivia laughed.

"At your rate, you'll be able to form a unit in NYPD and have their prosecutor."

"It still feels too good to be true."

Fin pinched her. "It's real, just so you know."

"Thanks," she rolled her eyes.

Trevor had wanted to whisk his bride away to the Caribbean, but she could not just leave her job to go on an impromptu honeymoon. It would have to wait until after Christmas.

"Have fun at work," he said before she left.

"Don't you have work too?"

"I don't want to go."

"Trev, you haven't been to the office once since you got out of the hospital."

"I know but …"

"But nothing, I didn't marry a chicken."

"I'm no chicken."

"Then get up and go."

"Yes Mrs. Langan!"

She rolled her eyes at him.

An hour later, he was walking into the firm doors of Hershall and Langan.

"Welcome back Trevor!" the security guard greeted.

He nodded as he made his way to his office. It was so weird. He used to spend so much time around the office, but it felt like a foreign world.

He expected Martha to be at the desk in front of his office. She had been with him since he started. Now that he thought about it, he didn't see her in the hospital.

"Where's Martha?" he questioned the new woman. This woman had to be half Martha's age. He hoped she knew what she was doing.

"She retired so she could take care of her husband. I'm Jenny."

"Hi Jenny. I need the case files for every case I had pending during the crash." He wanted to see what happened with his clients.

"Of course Mr. Langan."

He would tell her to call him Trevor, but he wasn't sure if he could work with her.

He got into his office for the first time in two years. It looked mostly the same. Someone cleaned it, so it didn't smell like two years of musk.

When he got the files, the first thing he did was sort them based on outcome. He wasn't worried about the acquittals, but he wanted to ensure that the firm did good work in cases where they took a plea deal or lost at trial.

Trevor usually took 15 criminal cases a year. Most of them would be resolved pre-trial but he went to trial 3-5 times a year and out of the four cases he had at the time of the crash, three of them went to trial and they lost them all.

On its own, that's not very surprising. Defendants usually lose, but Trevor only took cases to trial if he thought they could win. Losing all 3 of them made him wonder if they were doing their best to secure deals.

When he read the files, what he found disturbed him. Trevor had made his own predictions as to whether or not eh thought they should pursue a deal or go to trial, but you always have to adjust as you get more information. Your case could get better or worse at any time. He saw very little investigative work after he got into the accident. It looked like his replacement just took the work Trevor did and didn't build upon it.

 _I need to see how many hours they were billing._

He was sure it was a lot, and he was sure that they didn't earn the money.

Right after Halloween, Olivia reported to computer crimes. Alex gave her a photo of the twins in their Halloween costumes, Captain America and Wonder Woman, to put on her desk and Olivia loved it.

They had taken the twins trick or treating around One Hogan Place and the Precinct. They didn't really eat candy yet, so Olivia and Alex had a lot of goodies to bring to work.

Olivia put out a plastic pumpkin full of candy on her desk for the first day, telling her new coworkers to help herself.

By lunch, it was half gone.

"You have no idea how much candy we eat," one of them told her.

 _I hope they have good dentists._

Computer Crimes had three tasks, hunting down internet predators, finding and preserving electronic evidence for criminal investigations (could be for any unit), and cyber terrorism.

Given Olivia's experience on SVU, they thought she would be useful in tracking down the predators.

While Olivia chased online foes, the rest of the 1-6 chased physical ones, with a new member.

"Everyone, this is Det. Dani Beck," Cragen announced. "She will be filling in for Det. Benson until June."

"Hello everyone, I look forward to working with you."

They made their introductions and started to ask Dani about her background. She was married, Danish, and had been an American citizen of the US for 5 years. "My husband is a born American and I moved here to be with him."

She smiled warmly at Stabler. He was cute. This could prove interesting.

The end-of-the-year evaluations were coming up. Alex had to write about each ADA in her bureau and report to Donnelly as well as compile stats.

Casey was doing brilliantly. Her conviction rate was the highest in the office and she had one of the heaviest caseloads. She also was winning more evidence motions and getting longer deals than she had the year before.

Her confidence, however, did not match her skill set. This showed when Alex called her in for a private meeting. Immediately, the ADA was apologetic. "I know the jury only found Mattson guilty of two of the five counts but …"

"I'm not here to yell at you. Sit down Novak."

She took a seat and waited for Alex to continue.

"I wanted to congratulate you. Out of all of the ADAs in the office, you have shown to be the most impressive this year."

"Me?"

"Yes. The numbers don't lie, and even if I don't agree with how they are used, I do recognize that they are evidence of your aptitude. I called you in here because there is a leadership conference next month I want you to attend. I think it's time you stop hiding behind your talent and put yourself out there. Make connections with people who can help you move up the ladder."

"Me, a leader?"

"Yes. I know better than most how difficult the 1-6 can be, and you've been brilliant. Keep it up and this could open doors for you."

Casey left the office with a strange feeling in her gut. _Is this what accomplishment feels like?_

Most of the ADAs under Alex's direction were doing satisfactory work. Her main concern was Jim Steele. He was an intelligent man; she knew that, but he was too cocky. Alex had gotten word from judges that his attitude cost him when arguing motions. Alex was concerned that the jury saw that same attitude and it cost them cases, not to mention harmed the reputation of the office.

She scheduled his meeting for a Friday afternoon, hoping he'd take the time to cool off.

"Take a seat Steele."

He glared before sitting down.

"I have some concerns with your performance. Out of your last three cases, one was a mistrial and the other two resulted in lowball plea deals after you lost a series of evidence motions. You started off strong with the office, but your performance is sliding. Is there anything that I should know?"

"Like what?"

"Like something going on in your life to explain this, death in the family, an alcohol problem, any mitigating circumstances."

"What about judges who make up the law as they go and incompetent cops?"

"That's my other concern for you. Your attitude is garbage, and I have been getting reports back from judges about your less than respectful tone. You may not like their rulings.

Sometimes, their rulings are flat out wrong, but you are to keep your composure and if it's essential, consider an interlocutory appeal. I will not have you dragging the reputation of this office into the gutter.

For your next case, you will be sitting second chair with Fisher."

"Fisher?"

"He knows how to control himself. He gets compliments on his courtroom demeanor all the time. I think you can learn from him. He's going to trial in 3 weeks, so I suggest you meet with him and see what you can do to be of service, and think of this case as your final chance. "

His rage was evident. "Am I dismissed?"

"Yes." She felt bad for Fisher, but she didn't know where else to put Steele. He was fucking Porter, so she was out, and Casey had too much on her docket to babysit him, so Fisher was the lucky winner.

Alex packed up and went home, picking up her babies along the way.

When she got to the house, she put the twins in their playpen and was about to start dinner when the phone rang.

"Cabot Residence, Alex speaking."

"Alex, it's Dickie. I was wondering if you and Olivia could come to my soccer game tomorrow."

"Sure, what time?"

"It's at 2:00PM. Soldier's Field."

Alex wrote it down. "I can't wait. I'm sure you'll be great."

"Thanks." Dickie wanted to see more of Olivia. She used to come over a lot when she was single, but now she had her own family. He had asked his mother if she could come, so she told him to call and ask.

Olivia was happy to hear about it when she got to the house. "We can make a picnic and eat it at the park before the game." How could Olivia turn down an afternoon of kids and food?

"How was work?"

"Sedentary, but we did make a break in two cases," one was credit card fraud and the other was online stalking.

Alex kissed her. "Wonderful."

"How was your day?"

Alex explained the ups and downs of management. "It's fun to reward the do gooders, but when you have to reprimand people, it sucks. Even if it is Jim Steele."

"Why is he such an ass?"

"I don't know. According to his numbers and reports, he came in pretty strong, but now he's sinking. I told him this case was his last chance to turn it around. If he doesn't, he won't be working here next year."

Olivia immediately got protective. "You don't think he'll get violent, do you?"

"I hope not."

"I want to be there if you have to let him go."

"While you're pregnant, absolutely not. The last thing I need is him trying to hurt you or Satchmo."

"Satchmo?"

"The baby needs a nickname until he or she has a proper name."

"We can find out in two weeks," Olivia told her.

"I know, but I like Satchmo as a nickname."

Olivia ruffled her head. "You and your jazz music."

"Everything is better with jazz music."

"Even sex."

"Oh yeah."

"Prove it."

Alex put some Satchmo on and guided her wife to the couch. She straddled Olivia's thigh and gave her a tender kiss. "Let me show you." Alex's fingers made feather light touches all over Olivia's body as she kissed and nipped at her jaw line and pulse point.

"OOH!"

Slowly, Olivia's blouse came undone and then Alex kissed her buxom chest.

The detective's legs instinctively spread as her wife teased her tender breasts with her tongue.

"OH GOD!"

"Alex is fine," she smirked.

Olivia didn't know how she got so horny so quickly. This was her first taste of second trimester hormones.

Alex slipped her long fingers into her sopping wife. "How is this?"

"YES!" She reached out for Alex. She had to touch her.

Alex kissed her, sliding her tongue into her wife's mouth and curling her fingers to her g-spot.

The whole exchange was over too fast. After a lustful scream, Olivia was a cum-covered mess on the couch.

"How was the music?"

Olivia smirked. "It's quite nice. I can't say I paid much attention to it before, but now, it gives a good vibe."

Alex kissed her nose.

Soldier Field

The soccer teams were warming up. There weren't any bleachers, so parents were sitting in lawn chairs, on the ground or standing.

Elliot came with his wife and daughters. Dickie was warming up. He kept looking for Olivia but she wasn't there yet.

Finally, he saw her and Alex with the twins. Alex put down a blanket on the hill, so they were away from the errant soccer balls and could still see the game.

He waved, but they didn't see him.

"OLIVIA!" he called, catching their attention.

The women waved and the twins were waving too.

Kathy heard the name and realized the women had arrived and brought a picnic basket. _How nice._

They had a basket full of brisket sandwiches with crispy onions and mustard.

"We should have brought more to drink," Olivia said. They only had water.

"Casey said she'd bring a cooler."

"She's coming?"

Alex texted her, figuring it would be more fun if they had someone to chat with during the game.

Elliot had walked away from the field and came back with Dani Beck.

He introduced her to Kathy. "She's my partner until Olivia comes back."

"Oh nice to meet you."

"Whose that woman?" Alex asked Olivia, referring to Dani.

"I don't know," she answered. "Maybe she's my replacement."

 _She's kind of homely._ Alex thought to herself.

Kathy pointed out that Alex and Olivia came to the game. "Why don't you introduce her?"

Elliot smiled and did as his wife suggested.

"Olivia, Alex, this is Detective Dani Beck."

Alex stood up and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Dani had already gotten the lowdown from Stabler, so she knew that he was fond of Olivia but not Alex. Dani wondered why. "Likewise, I've heard great things about you."

"Maybe half of them are true," Alex teased. "The best things about me are right here." Alex had her twins. "Lorelei and Ollie."

"Oh they are gorgeous," Dani admitted. "My husband and I don't have any children. They're cute, but I'd rather have my time for myself."

"I used to feel the same way," Alex said, "and then she made a softie out of me," Alex accused Olivia. "She's amazing with kids, all kids."

"Twins and two working moms, it must be quite a challenge."

"We manage," Olivia told her. "It helps that Alex got a more administrative job. She doesn't have to go crazy prepping for trials anymore."

"Instead, I go crazy when my ADA's muck them up."

"Not me, I'm the star," Casey said as she approached with a cooler. "Hey Elliot, Dani."

"Now it's gone to your head," Alex teased.

Casey smirked as she opened her cooler and popped open a can of beer.

"You can't have beer at the park," Elliot told her.

"That's why I brought a big gulp cup," Casey poured it into the cup and started to drink.

"That is so classy," Alex teased.

"Shut up Boss!"

Elliot wandered back to his wife.

Dani decided to pump the girls for info.

"So what's the deal with Elliot?" she asked.

"He's a hothead," Alex said bluntly.

Casey snorted. "He's not always so bad, although sometimes I do think he's going to break the perp's neck and get arrested."

Olivia had worked with him the longest by far. "He's usually well intentioned, but he can be judgmental to say the least."

"Because you married a woman."

 _Because she married an uptown girl_ , Alex added internally.

Their conversation got cut off when the whistle blew. Time to start the game.


	7. Chapter 7

Elliot watched the game with his family, but his mind was elsewhere

His life was comfortable right now. He had his wife of almost 19 years on his arm. His children were all happy and safe, and his new partner was actually pretty interesting. Sometimes, these easy days came too few and far between. The worst of it was, Elliot didn't know what to do when his life was easy.

It had always been a struggle. Becoming a father earlier than he meant to, working his way through college by enrolling in the Marines, joining the NYPD after that, he knew how to fight. That's who he was. What was there for him in peacetime?

While he contemplated his life and what was missing from it, life moved on without him.

Kathleen and Maureen went on about whatever was in the rumor mill at high school. Lizzie was chatting with some other kids in the stands. Kathy watched her son, cheering like the soccer mom she was.

Olivia and the others enjoyed their picnic; some of them enjoyed beer, and the twins played in the dirt.

Dickie scored the winning goal, leading his team to a 3-2 victory.

All of his supporters were cheering for him and when his mother offered victory pizza, he asked if everyone could come.

Alex and Olivia nodded. Casey and Dani came too.

It wasn't every day that a party of 12 came to get pizza. Seating them was the easy part. Trying to figure out what pies they were getting was the hardest.

"I want olives," Olivia declared.

"You don't like olives," Alex reminded her.

"I know, but I think I want them right now."

"Pregnancy does that," Kathy laughed.

"Does anyone else like olives in case Olivia won't eat this?" Alex didn't trust her.

"I'll eat it," Dani volunteered.

They got one pizza with bacon and olives, one pepperoni, and one plain.

When the one with olives came, Olivia took a big bite. "This is awesome. Want a bite?"

"Ew no!"

"You liked bananas on your pizza when you were pregnant."

"That was delicious, olives, EW!"

"I just wanted pickles," Kathy said, "lots of pickles."

"You made me find a 24 hour market at 3AM," Elliot reminded her, "many times."

"Can we buy olives on the way home?" Olivia questioned.

Alex kissed her. "I'll get you all the olives."

Several conversations sprouted at once, covering everything from football to children. Casey was a quiet one in the bunch and so was Lizzie.

The ADA, despite herself, decided to try and see what Lizzie was about. "What do you like to do for fun?"

"I like to ride my bike and play softball."

Casey was an avid mountain biker, when she had the time, and she did love softball. "Me too. I used to play in softball in college, and I play for the DA's team."

"Really?"

They started chatting about their positions. Lizzie played second base and Casey was a short stop.

Kathy watched them fondly. Lizzie usually didn't talk very much unless it was with other players from her team.

"I can't believe our season's almost over," Dickie lamented. "I won't be able to play again until the summer."

"Do you have a winter sport?" Alex asked him.

He shook his head. "I'm not much good at basketball or hockey."

"Does your school have indoor track?"

Elliot gave her a look. _What public middle school has an indoor track?_

He looked at her puzzled. "That's a thing?"

"It's what I did in school."

He shook. "Our school doesn't have an indoor track."

"But they might have a team. My school hosted a lot of meets because not all of other schools had a nearby track. Even if there is no team, if you spend your winter running, you'll be faster come spring."

"Are you a runner?" Dickie questioned.

"5 miles a day, every day."

"How?" Dani questioned.

"It used to be mornings, 5:30 religiously, but now I run whenever I can, before work, while dinner's in the oven, before bed."

"I don't know how you can run before bed," Olivia told her.

"I think the endorphins give me interesting dreams."

At the end of the dinner, Casey and Lizzie exchanged information.

"Maybe I could take you to the batting cages sometime."

"That would be great."

Kathy got the family in the car. "It was nice that they were all able to come out with us this afternoon."

"Casey's cool," Lizzie declared. "She plays softball and she rides the trails on her mountain bike."

"Alex is cool too," Dickie added. "She can run 5 miles in 30 minutes."

"No wonder she's so thin," Kathy grumbled. "She hardly looks like she had twins last year."

"You still got it Mom," Maureen said encouragingly.

"But your clothes could use updating," Kathleen told her.

Kathy gave her a look.

"Just saying, a trip to the mall could do you some good."

"And you wouldn't want anything at the mall, would you?"

"Well there is this jacket that …"

[Collective groan]

All of the Stablers knew where this was going.

"This was a fun outing," Alex said on their way home. She hardly had to talk to Elliot and his family was a lot of fun.

"And you said soccer sounds boring."

"I still don't get the sport, but you have to run a lot and running I get."

"Do you watch basketball for the running too?" Olivia teased.

"No, I watch it and think about you running up and down the court, all sweaty and sexy."

Olivia flushed. "Wait until we get home missy!"

* * *

Over the next few weeks, new friendships emerged. Lizzie ended up calling Casey and the two girls started hitting the cages together.

"Angle your feet a little more,' Casey instructed. "You want the power to come from your hips." The girl had potential. If she perfected her form, she could really knock out the competition. She was at the critical age where the pitchers tended to be better than the batters. If she could keep up, she'd be a star.

Alex and Dickie talked running together. He had never thought about stride or the right running sneakers before. He just ran when he had to and was fast enough to get there.

Kathy was appreciative of both Alex and Casey for their efforts with her youngest children. It was hard keeping up with four kids and with Maureen focusing on college apps, and Kathleen looking for independence, Kathy was getting stretched thin.

It was nice knowing that other adults were engaging with her children and could alert her to any signs of trouble.

"You don't mind taking Lizzie with you." Casey was meeting up with some former friends from college; they had played softball together, and Lizzie wanted to meet them.

"Of course not," Casey assured Kathy. "She's always well behaved and it will be fun."

While Lizzie was with Casey, Dickie was at the Cabots'. He and Alex had a running date through Prospect Park.

They did a two-mile run, which felt just right for the frigid day.

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Dickie asked once they were done.

"We're hosting dinner at the house. My uncle and aunt are coming; so is Olivia's mother."

"Olivia used to come to our house for Thanksgiving," Dickie lamented.

Alex took him to get some hot chocolate. "I know things have changed over the past two years, but Olivia loves you and your sisters. She just has a lot more on her plate right now."

"I know. I'm glad she has a family now, it's just different." Dickie liked Alex. There was something different about her. He thought that it was her refined upbringing, but it was something else, something unique to her.

They headed to the house where they were both able to shower and change into something more comfortable.

"Liv, I brought you back some cocoa."

She had been home alone during their hour at the park, which was pretty nice. Liv didn't get as much alone time with the twins given her hours. It was usually her and Alex or just Alex. Liv liked feeling like the mama bear for once.

"Our baby keeps kicking my bladder."

Alex kissed her tummy. "Little Alexandra, give Mommy a break."

"What?" Olivia questioned.

"I'm just teasing Liv."

"Don't tease the pregnant woman!"

"What about when I was pregnant. You loved teasing me."

Olivia softened. "I can't believe how hormonal this all is."

"It's amazing isn't it?"

"Amazing and terrifying at the same time. … Kiss me!"

They shared a kiss, and then a second one. Almost forgetting Dickie was at their house until he came downstairs.

"Should I go back upstairs?"

The women broke their kiss and blushed.

"Oh no. I should go take a shower, and no you can't join me," Alex teased Olivia before she went upstairs.

"You're so mean," Olivia retorted. "How was your run?"

"It was fun. I never really ran outside of practice, but it's fun to compete against yourself. I want to get a watch like Alex has, so I can measure my progress over time."

The two put on a college football game and watched with the twins in tow.

Dickie got Ollie while Olivia got Lorelei.

"I bet they're going to be good at sports," Dickie told her. "You can teach them how to play basketball and Alex can run with them."

"When the weather's warmer, she runs with them using a stroller. Apparently, it's a fun ride for babies." It sounded nuts to Olivia.

"Already training them. She might end up teaching them rules of evidence before they're in Pre-K."

Olivia giggled. "Don't give her any ideas. I have a feeling Ollie's going to be her mini me."

"I think Lorelei is yours."

When softball players get together, they often get beers and talk about sex. Even though Casey had Lizzie in tow, Casey's friends didn't always keep the conversation PG.

"Case, got a boyfriend right now?"

"No."

"Girlfriend?"

"No."

"Fuckfriend?"

"Not in front of the kid, and no."

Lizzie chuckled. "You're pretty. Why not?"

"See, the kid is smart. Why are you all alone?"

"Who am I going to date with the hours I work?"

"Someone from work," a friend said to her.

"It's how Alex and Olivia got together," Lizzie added.

"See, she's smart. I bet there are a bunch of amenable cops and lawyers for you to choose."

The others went on about the women and men they were either dating nor "not dating," causing Casey to just grumble as she drank her soda.

Lizzie just found the whole thing funny. At 11, she was just about to reach the phase where everyone ran around looking for a "boyfriend" or "girlfriend." Right now, it was just fun to watch Casey squirm.

Dani and Elliot had to catch cases this weekend. Fin and Munch had off.

"You must be excited to have Thanksgiving off," Dani said. "Spend time with that beautiful family of yours."

"It will be nice," Elliot said, a bit nonchalantly. "I was spoiled before when it came to holidays."

"What do you mean?"

"Olivia didn't have a family and neither did Munch, so they would usually take the holidays if we caught a case, but now she is has her own family to get home to."

"Her kids are really pretty," Dani commented. "They took after Alex." She knew he didn't like Alex. This would be fun.

"I guess they're lucky. They could have taken after their father."

"Did they use a donor?"

"Worse; she got knocked up by Langan, and then Olivia made an honest woman out of her."

"I've heard his name before."

"He's the lawyer who was in that coma."

"Oh! She was with him? Mismatch!"

Stabler rolled his eyes. "She got pregnant and once he was in a coma, she moved on to Olivia."

"I take it you don't like her for Olivia."

"I just don't like her. You're lucky you weren't here when she was our ADA. She was a real bitch."

"She does seem a bit entitled."

"She just throws money at what she wants and she gets it."

"Like Olivia."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on El. Look at her perfect clothes, sharp hair cut, the jewelry. Alex clearly spares no expense when it comes to her wife. Even those babies had on designer clothes."

"Olivia's not like that," Elliot insisted.

"Everyone is like that. It's flattering when people give you gifts. I'm not saying she's a gold digger. I'm saying that I doubt very many men or women ever said no to Alex Cabot."

Elliot growled. "Wouldn't say yes in a million years."

"Really? She's tall, leggy, got a pretty face, and given how she and Olivia paw at each other, I imagine they have a lot of fun in the sack."

"Her attitude negates her looks."

"What kind of attitude do you like?"

"She has to have a positive attitude but a bit of darkness. She can't be too cheery or inexperienced." Dani intrigued Elliot. She had some kind of darkness to her. He could just tell.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanksgiving

Alex was hosting her first full Thanksgiving, no chili dogs this year, and wanted it to go perfectly. She knew one duck would not be enough, so she made two. One got a French treatment, stuffed with orange and sage and the other had been marinade in a mix of soy, ginger, and oil and would be glazed with honey afterwards.

For sides, she was making biscuits, haricot vert with pecans, mashed potatoes with fresh gravy, and a mixed green salad with goat cheese and cranberries.

Their guest list included Aunt Margo and Uncle Bill, Serena Benson, and newlyweds Abbie and Serena Southerlyn, The Southerlyns were supposed to go Serena's parents for Thanksgiving, but her parents had been arguing for weeks and Serena knew she didn't want to deal with their issues on the holiday weekend.

Olivia was watching football and bouncing the twins on her lap. "Go Big Blue!"

The doorbell rang. It was Serena Benson with sweaters she had made for her grandchildren.

"I've been learning how to crochet," she had started to learn in rehab.

"They're adorable," Alex assured her mother in law as she took the sweaters. "They should put them on after dinner. They're quite messy eaters."

Olivia waved at her mother from the couch. "Giants are up 13-7."

Serena accepted some mint lemonade from Alex and Ollie to put on her lap.

"How is your pregnancy going?"

Olivia's circumstance was the exact opposite of her mother's. The question threw the detective for a loop before she said, "good but tiring."

Serena smiled at her. "You have quite a glow."

Olivia blushed. That was likely from her morning with Alex. The second trimester was proving quite lustful for them.

Abbie and Serena came next. "I brought Grandma Carmichael's pecan pie," Abbie called out with her southern drawl. She went to put the pies in the kitchen and inspect Alex's work.

Serena cooed when she saw the twins. "They're growing so fast!" She couldn't help but picture little Abbies running around her living room.

"I wonder if the Satchmo will look like them."

"Satchmo?"

"We needed a nickname for the baby."

"And you picked Satchmo?"

Olivia shrugged. "I've developed a recent appreciation for jazz."

"What are you using for the gravy?"

"The innards of the duck."

"What?" Abbie questioned.

"Instead of a turkey gravy, I'm making a duck gravy for the mashed potatoes."

"Not for the mashed potatoes, for the biscuits."

"Why would the biscuits need gravy? We have butter and jam for them."

Abbie shook her head. "Tell me you have sausage." She looked and found some. "Leave the biscuits to me. I don't trust your Yankee instincts."

"Like southerners are any better. If it were up to you we'd probably be eating deep fried turducken."

"Don't knock it until you try it, and my family usually does smoked pork shoulder or brisket, or both, or …"

The doorbell rang, interrupting Abbie's rant on southern style Thanksgiving.

It was Aunt Margo and Uncle Bill.

Alex opened it and hugged them. "Welcome."

Margo could tell right away it was a lovely home. "It looks perfect already."

"It explains why you moved to Brooklyn," Bill was surprised to hear they were leaving Manhattan. You can't get a place like this in Manhattan.

"It had a homier vibe than the other houses we looked at." It also cost 1/3 of what she would have spent for less space in Manhattan.

At 5PM, it was time for their Thanksgiving dinner.

Margo took a picture before they started carving the duck. "This looks gorgeous."

"And to think Cabot was going to serve biscuits without gravy," Abbie teased.

"I've never had sausage gravy, bite me."

"I'll leave that to Liv. I'm a married woman!"

"Rena, how do you live with her?"

"I like it when she's not talking."

"HEY!"

"You have better uses for your mouth."

"Not in front of the children," Margo teased.

The witty banter continued through stuffed mouths as people filled on food and drink.

"This is the most delicious Thanksgiving I've ever had," Olivia said happily as she finished a plate full of duck with crispy skin, mashed potatoes and started a second plate of biscuits and gravy.

"Someone's ready to chow down," Serena teased.

"Eating for two," Olivia countered.

"Luckily it's not for three," Abbie added.

Everyone looked at her.

"What if twins run in the Cabot's side of the family?"

"I wouldn't have minded twins again," Alex told her.

"Two sets of twins under two?" Olivia questioned.

"It would save us a pregnancy later on. We already have duplicates of a lot of stuff, and why wouldn't I want two little Bensons running around."

"Who are you and what did you do with Alex?" Abbie questioned. When they was in college, Alex swore she was never having kids.

"Olivia taught me how to love."

"AW!" Serena cooed.

Abbie made a gagging noise and the phone rang.

"Cabot residence, Olivia speaking."

"Liv it is Dickie."

"Hi Dickie. How's your Thanksgiving?"

"It's great. Grandma and Grandpa Stabler came and brought cake."

"What kind of cake?"

"Chocolate chip."

While Dickie and Liv chatted, Margo and Serena B. started clearing the table. Abbie and Bill went to go watch more football and Alex and Serena S. got the twins settled.

"This was such a nice Thanksgiving. At my house, it was always stuffy and tense."

"Mine too. We wanted a more relaxed atmosphere."

"Your babies are so precious."

Alex grinned. "The day they were born was the best day of my life."

"How much did it hurt?"

It was hard to remember. She remembered screaming, but the pain itself seemed like a distant memory. "It's rough, and you think you're done once there out, but then there's the placenta, yuck!"

"Did you know some cultures eat it?"

Alex made a face. "How horrid."

After dinner, came coffee and dessert. They had pecan pie and apple pie along with vanilla ice cream and cardamom ice cream and an array of coffee and tea options.

"This ice cream is amazing," Margo told Alex. "Where did you get it?"

"There's this store near the park. They make their own ice cream each night and sell it the following day."

The conversations went late into the evening and then it was time for their local guests to get home.

Margo and Bill had a car service to get them home and they had their driver drop off Serena along the way.

Abbie and Serena made good use of the widescreen, choosing to stay up late and watch movies.

Alex and Olivia headed up to bed.

The detective was unusually quiet as they got their clothes off.

"What is it Love?"

"Promise not to laugh."

"Of course."

"I want you to top me tonight." Olivia was used to being the dominant one, but the way her hormones were surging, her desires were starting to shift was well

Alex kissed her. "Why would I laugh?"

"We haven't …"

Alex kissed her. "I want you to be happy. Whatever you want to do, we'll do."

Once they got upstairs, Alex got Olivia naked and lavished her in kisses. "How do you want it baby?"

"I want my legs on your shoulders as you drive into me."

Alex's lips softly covered Olivia's. "As you wish."

Alex wasn't a pianist, but she had long, thin piano fingers. They expertly played Olivia's body, stroking her shoulders, collarbone and her torso before coming back up for her tender breasts.

Alex knew from experience how gentle these touches needed to be and she gently started licking her wife's chocolate nipples.

"OH LEXI!"

Olivia became so lost in the foreplay that she didn't even realize Alex had grabbed a phallus from the drawer and put the smaller end inside herself.

The detective was shocked when she felt cold glass rubbing against her leg. Alex smirked as she got the dildo wet with her wife's juices before moving Olivia's legs onto her shoulders.

"FUCK ME!"

Alex slowly pushed her way into her wife. She hadn't topped in years, but with Olivia's moans in the background, it felt perfectly natural.

Olivia gasped as the glass stretched her. After an unfortunate incident in college, she had always insisted on being the top when she used toys but her hormones were changing her desires in strange ways. She had this unrelenting desire to be dominated, and it only seemed to grow as Alex filled her to the hilt.

She couldn't be quiet if she tried. All she could do was clutch the sheets and mew loudly as Alex teasingly moved her hips back and forth, slowly making sure that Olivia was well adjusted.

"How does this feel Baby?"

"OH GOD!"

Olivia's voice oozed of sex. Alex was getting just the feedback she wanted, and she started to quicken her pace, gazing into Olivia's eyes the whole time. The detective grunted happily as Alex managed to wrap her long arms around her and started thrusting harder and faster.

Harsh grunts escaped Alex's lips as she started to get close. _She feels so fucking amazing!_ Normally, Alex didn't like to top, but she was happy to please Olivia any way she wanted it, and it was sexy hearing her moan and beg for more, to see her normally butchy top as a curvy, bottom slut.

"OH YES FUCK!" Olivia cried.

To make sure they came together, Alex began stroking Olivia's clit, rubbing circles around it before rubbing it directly, causing Olivia's throat to tighten before she let out a scream.

Alex groaned at almost the same time, signaling the round was over.

"Was that good for you?"

Olivia happily kissed her. "Great."

They fell asleep afterwards. It had been a long day. They both needed the rest.


	9. Chapter 9

December

Two weeks after Thanksgiving, Olivia and Alex went to see about the gender of their baby. Their twins were with them, sleeping in their stroller

Olivia giggled nervously as the cold gel covered her stomach.

Alex kissed her hand. "Ready to see our baby?"

"Oh yeah."

The ultrasound technician focused on the image until he could see, "Congratulations. You're having a baby boy."

Alex knew Olivia had been hoping for a girl. She kissed her wife on the cheek and stroked her hand.

The detective had been nervous about passing on her father's genes; she had thought a girl would be easier, but she was happy that they were having another son. "I think this is a good thing. If we had another daughter than Ollie would be trapped with four girls."

Alex kissed her nose.

When they got home, Alex and Olivia decided to tell the twins.

"You're going to have a brother," Olivia told them.

"Brudda!"

Alex pointed. "He's right here."

Both Lorelei and Ollie started rubbing Mommy's tummy.

"Brudda!"

Olivia was about to cry. "I'm so happy." Her family was so full of love that it was overwhelming.

Alex always had a handkerchief on hand for her wife.

Instead of having another tell party, they decided to send cupcakes to their friends with blue filling, leaving them to figure it out. The grandparents had already been called.

Munch was the first one to get it, mainly because he was the first to bite into his cupcake. "They're having a boy!"

Fin thought Munch lost his mind before he saw the blue inside his cupcake. "I should have known these were special cupcakes."

Dani was just happy to have a free cupcake. She looked over to Elliot who was clearly less excited about his cupcake now. She smirked internally. It wasn't hard for him to determine that Elliot had a soft spot for Olivia and a sore spot for Alex. She wondered if she could use this to her advantage.

When Casey got her cupcake, she attacked it ravenously. She had skipped breakfast, and ate it so quickly that she almost missed the blue middle.

She went to Alex's office.

"Enjoy your cupcake?" Alex could see the frosting on her face.

"You're having another boy."

"We are."

"Is that what you wanted?"

"I want a healthy baby that looks like Liv. Gender doesn't matter to me."

"If he looks like Liv, he'll be a heartbreaker for sure."

Before Casey could say more, Alex's phone rang.

"I'll get out of your hair," Casey headed back to her office.

It was Trevor.

"I hear a congratulations is in order." He had just finished his cupcake.

"Thank you. How's Elsa?"

Busy, tired, "She's good. The clinic has been quite busy because of flu season." There was this gnarly fall flu going around.

Alex had gotten the vaccine. Olivia couldn't because she was pregnant.

"You miss her," it was given as a statement and not a question. Alex knew what it was like to have a wife out saving the world.

"Yeah, I do."

With Trevor's hours, he could hardly complain about Elsa being busy. He had been working night and day at the firm and in his home office, trying to get ahold of what had been going on in his absence. The hours logged seemed to dwarf the work produced. Their acquittal rate had gone down, even after he factored himself out of the equation.

Something was wrong here, but he couldn't figure out what all it was.

At lunch, Fin and Munch came to see their favorite detective. Olivia had been at her computer with a lunch that Alex had packed for her: broiled chicken on an arugula salad and a biscuit.

"Congratulations Baby Girl," Fin said to Liv with a hug and a kiss on her forehead.

"How's Jonathan Cabot doing?" Munch teased.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Satchmo is fine."

Of course Fin and Munch had their own name ideas from Michaelangelo to Quinton.

Olivia smiled, as she said, "no way on Earth."

"I'm sure he'll be a looker," Fin told her. "He has two beautiful mamas."

"But he's only related to one," Munch pointed out.

"Actually, he's related to Alex too." She explained how they had acquired Trey's sperm.

Neither Fin nor Munch thought anything of it.

"No matter who he takes after, he'll be lucky."

"Alex wants him to look like me."

"Can you blame her?" Munch questioned.

She playfully flipped her hair. "I guess not."

"Show off," Fin teased.

* * *

Elliot and Dani grabbed lunch while Fin and Munch were visiting Olivia.

She asked him how did he and Kathy find time to themselves with four kids.

"It's hard, but Maureen babysits them sometimes, and the twins are old enough to go over to friends' houses. It's not like we have babies running around."

"Olivia and Alex must not mind. How many do you think they'll have?"

Elliot rolled his eyes. "Olivia said they wanted four."

"You have four kids. Is four a special number?"

He shrugged. "We didn't have a plan. We just got lucky sometimes."

"I'm sure the baby will be beautiful, but it is a shame, two boys and they won't have a father to show them the way."

"I don't see why Olivia couldn't have found a husband. She's dated men before. I thought she was straight before Alex."

"Maybe all the good men were taken," Dani teased with an eyebrow raise. "By the time she met you, it was already too late."

"Olivia and I are just friends."

"I never said otherwise. I'm just saying that the order of things matter. If you met her before Kathy, maybe this whole scenario would be different. I know if I had met you before my husband..."

She winked instead of finishing her sentence.

Elliot nodded in her direction. It felt good to have a woman flirt with him.

* * *

When Olivia got home, Lorelei ran right to her. "Mommy!"

"Lorelei!" She welcomed her baby girl with open arms.

Olivia would always melt when she saw her baby girl. She had her mama's eyes and that smile.

The twins had been in the kitchen with their Mama while she cooked dinner.

Ollie came out after Lorelei. He had flour in his hair.

"Why are you dirty?" Olivia asked with a laugh.

"Mommy!"

He got his hug and kiss too before Alex appeared. "The twins were helping me make pasta for tomorrow's dinner."

"Already starting on tomorrow's dinner?" Alex was so fucking organized

"Tonight's dinner is pretty quick to make, so I decided to start prepping tomorrow's now."

Olivia kissed her wife.

They had to juggle the twins both trying to get between them.

"Mommy!"

"Mama!"

"I think they want our attention."

"How about we play outside?"

Olivia got the twins' coats and hats on them and took them out in the yard to play with their ball, leaving Alex to the kitchen.

Olivia rolled the ball and the twins took off after it. Lorelei was quick to bring the ball back to Mommy where as Ollie would take the ball and just keep running.

They could only stay out for about 20 minutes because of the cold weather, and when they came inside, Alex had hot chocolate ready for them.

"You know just how to spoil me," Olivia grinned as Alex handed her a mug.

They started kissing to the irritation of their children.

"Mommy!"

"Mama!"

They didn't get why their parents were always kissing.

Alex and Olivia broke from each other just to give their twins kisses on their forehead.

* * *

The Stablers were eating dinner. Kathy told the children "Olivia and Alex are having a boy." She had gotten a cupcake today as well.

Lizzie already knew. She and Casey had talked on the phone after she got out of school and Casey had mentioned it then.

Dickie was excited. "I'm always surrounded by girls," he fussed.

The women in his family all glared at him.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that," he backtracked.

"You're just jealous you don't have a brother," Lizzie teased.

"Slightly."

"You're not missing out."

"Lizzie," Elliot warned.

"I bet the baby's going to be so cute." Kathleen cooed. "Olivia's really pretty."

"I'm always ready to babysit," Maureen pointed out.

"They'll probably pay you more now," Kathleen told her. She wished she had that gig.

"They should keep having kids," Maureen said with a grin.

Her father glared at her.

"What? They're the best paying parents I know." Maureen almost had enough for the car she wanted.

After dinner, Kathy called Alex to congratulate them.

"Are you two having another baby shower?"

"No. We have enough stuff from when we had the twins." The only thing they needed was a new crib. Satchmo would be born before Ollie and Lorelei were ready to move into beds.

"If there's anything I can do to help …"

The women made small talk for a few more minutes before Alex got off the phone.

"Bye Kathy."

Olivia peered over her shoulder. "Kathy called about the baby?"

"She says congratulations."

Olivia kissed her head.

Alex pulled her wife onto her lap. "I think the cupcakes were a hit."

Between the two of them, they've heard from everyone except for Elliot.

"I thought I least warranted a text message," Olivia told her wife.

Alex kissed her hand. "You deserve so much more than that. If he can't be happy for us, that's his loss."

"I know." It was still hard to accept, but she knew.

"There are so many people who love us and our children and are happy for us. No reason to let one rotten tomato ruin the bunch."

"Isn't it rotten apple?"

"Tomatoes go bad way faster."

Olivia laughed at her wife before she jumped in surprise.

"Are you hurt?"

"He kicked."

Alex put her hand on her wife's baby bump. "He's saying hi."

The next day, Ollie and Lorelei got to feel their brother say hello to them.

They laughed raucously as they felt the strange pulsing from their brother's kicks.

Alex found the sight so adorable that she captured it on video.

Olivia scowled when she looked at the camera. "I don't want my hugeness documented!" Her hormones were giving Alex a run for her money.

"I was twice as huge when I was pregnant."

"You were still gorgeous. I'm just fat."

"How does that work?" Now the camera was off and Alex put the twins in their playpen.

"Everything about you is gorgeous from your hair to your toes. What I had going for me was my muscles and now they're covered in fat." She knew it was the short hair, leather jacket, muscles, and cocky swagger that had attracted Alex. Now, all of that was gone except for the jacket.

Alex kissed her lips. "You have no idea how gorgeous you are. Everything about you excites me from the way you pout when something isn't going your way to how you soften when people need you to care about them. I won't deny that your rugged look initially drew my eye, but I like your femininity as well. You have beautiful curves and they're even more accentuated now. You're so sexy that I have to refrain from drooling.

Alex kissed her wife's cheeks and sucked on the pulse point of her neck. "I want to show you how beautiful you are."

"Have me."

They made their way up the bedroom. The wall in front of their bed was covered in mirrors. Alex dimmed the lights but she didn't take them off.

"I'm going to slowly undress you," Alex said as she started to unbutton her wife's shirt. "Then I'm going to make love to you. I want you to watch everything I do."

Olivia panted as nimble hands took her shirt off. "OOOHHHH!" she moaned as she felt Alex cup her breasts through her bra and rub them.

The Chief did take her time, touching her wife between each article of clothing she removed. Once she was finally naked, Alex sat behind her and started kissing her neck as she touched Olivia all over her bare skin.

Marks of love cover Olivia's collar bone, and Olivia was on the edge of an orgasm just from the tender way Alex had treated her breasts.

Alex slipped two fingers into her wife's sopping heat. Once she curled them, Olivia was done for.

"ALEX!" the name tore out of Olivia's throat as she shook and spasmed in a rapturous bliss.

"I'm just getting started Baby."

Alex strapped on an electric blue phallus. She liked the bright colored ones and she preferred her toys look less realistic. She wanted them to stand out and call attention to themselves. This toy was twisty and looked like an anime tentacle end more than a penis.

She slowly plunged into her wife.

"FUCK!"

Alex held onto her hips and even though Olivia was on top, Alex controlled the pace.

"Don't close your eyes!" Alex bit her shoulder, encouraging her lover to watch as Alex ravished her body. Her hands massaged Olivia's breasts as the woman moaned and begged for another release.

Alex had her own pleasure from the phallus rubbing back against her clit, but she was too focused on Olivia's to pay much attention. "You're so sexy," Alex told her as she thrusted. "I could cum just looking at you."

Olivia knew in her heart that Alex meant ever word. Even if it made no sense, pregnant Olivia turned Alex on immensely. The detective started to raise and lower her hips, moving with Alex until another orgasm ripped through her.

"OH JESUS MOTHER MARY FUCK!"

Alex knew she could get one more and began to gently massage Olivia's distended clitoris until her wife shrieked one more time and came. Hearing her was enough to send Alex over the edge.

"How about I draw you a nice hot bath to soak in while I get the twins?"

"That sounds perfect."

"I love you," Alex kissed her behind her ear.

"I love you, Lex."

Two Days Before Christmas

Elliot and Dani were trying to close their case before Christmas Eve. They had been in a car, waiting for their perp to violate his parole so they could collar him and bring him into the precinct. He had an ankle tracking monitor on him, but they didn't think he wore it all the time. All they needed was to catch him without it once and they were set.

"Excited for Christmas," Dani asked casually as she looked at her book.

"It's nice to have the family together."

"I was an only child," Dani told him. "I never had a boisterous Christmas."

"It's better with all the kids," Elliot said. "I wouldn't want a quiet Christmas."

"Who says it's quiet? I know how to make plenty of noise." She winked at him.

"I'm sure you do."

If it wasn't for the way his lips curled up when she made suggestive comments, she would think he was rebuffing her advances. He has been married a long time, and he seems to have been faithful. She knew she would need to invest a lot of time to get him to stray. She was willing to wait.

Two hours later, they saw his cat wearing his ankle tracking device. He was about to bolt. Once he left his property, they gave chase. Dani drew her weapon, ordering him to freeze.

He put up his hands, just to kick a nearby garbage can at her. Elliot tackled him to the ground and they hauled him off to jail.

Now they could hold him long enough to get a confession.

Lizzie and Kathy were making Christmas cookies.

"How come we're making so many?" Lizzie asked. They were making three batches.

"I thought we could make a batch for everyone who has to work the holiday."

When the cookies were cool enough, Kathy put them away in storage containers and she and Lizzie took one of them over to the precinct.

"We'll be back in half an hour Dickie."

"Okay Mom." He was ready to go inside and get some cookies for himself.

They got to the precinct and Stabler was inside with the perp, trying to get him to confess.

"Kathy, Lizzie what brings you here?" Dani offered with a smile.

"We brought some cookies to cheer up whoever's stuck here tomorrow."

"That would be me and Munch. How kind of you."

Kathy forked them over.

Lizzie didn't like Dani. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about the woman made her uneasy.

Kathy and Lizzie headed right back to the house. By the time Elliot came out, a signed confession in hand, they were almost home.

Dani told him, "it was nice of your wife and daughter to stop by."

"They were here."

"They dropped off cookies."

Elliot didn't like it when his family came by. He didn't want them to see the brutality of the cases they dealt with. "They didn't see …"

"Not a thing."

"Good. I don't need them to know this world."

"I understand completely. Some things should just be kept from our loved ones at home."

 _Now what did she mean by that?_


	10. Chapter 10

Casey's flight to Ohio got cancelled. There was a Midwest snowstorm that made it impossible to land in Ohio right now. She had been about to head to the airport when she got the news.

"DAMN!"

"Bad day?" Donnelly questioned.

"Cancelled flight."

"And that's why I take the train come Christmas time."

"It would be a long train ride to Ohio."

"Maybe tomorrow will be luckier."

Christmas Eve

It wasn't, at least not to start. Casey couldn't find a flight to Ohio to save her life. They were all cancelled. Frustrated, she got ready to spend her Christmas, home, alone eating Chinese food.

When her phone rang, she just said, "Novak!"

"Hey Novak, it's Stabler," Lizzie teased.

"Hey Lizze. How's your Chrismas?"

"Good. We have cookies and there are a lot of presents under the tree and Grandma made spiked eggnog and is drunk."

Casey laughed. "I'm glad you're enjoying it."

"How's Ohio?"

"I'm still in New York. My flight got snowed out."

"Who are you spending Christmas with?"

"Myself."

"Don't' be alone. Come over here."

"I don't want to intrude."

"You won't be. Liv used to come over here when she was single."

"But she and your Dad are partners."

"You and I are friends, and you work with Dad too. I'll ask Mom."

Before she could object, Kathy got on the phone and insisted Casey come over. "We have plenty of food, and we would love to have you."

Two hours later, Casey found herself at the Stabler house where Dickie and Lizzie were chasing each other around, Kathleen was on the phone, Maureen was on her iPad, and most of the adults had drinks in their hands while Kathy cooked.

Casey wasn't much of a cook, so she brought over gelato. She wouldn't admit to it, but she bought 5 containers for the price of 2 at the store, so she just took two of the unopened containers to their house.

She went to put it in the freezer and offered to help Kathy. "I'm kind of a cooking virgin, so you probably don't want to give me anything I can burn."

"How do you eat?"

"Takeout."

"You're just like Liv was. I swear she should have had a heart attack from all of those cheesesteaks."

Casey knocked on wood. "Although I usually end up eating more salads than cheesesteaks, well salad before my pizza."

"Tell me about your family."

Casey wasn't sure where to start. "Well, I have two older brothers. Kevin is married with two kids, and Ronnie is in the navy, with a girlfriend at every port. My parents are Irish Catholic and they keep waiting for me to settle down and start popping out grandkids."

"Anyone on the horizon?"

"Nope. I'm married to my job, and I'm almost okay with that."

"Just almost."

"It's been a while."

Kathy knew what she meant. "My second husband is my magic wand."

"Kathy, can you bring me another beer?" Elliot called from the living room

As Kathy brought drinks to the family room, Casey finally realized what Kathy meant by magic wand. She started to blush. She was more of a natural girl.

Dover, MA

Alex and Olivia took the twins to the main Cabot estate. Alex wanted to ride Chance and they wanted to show the twins the barn and its animals.

Lorelei enjoyed playing with the dog that still tried unsuccessfully to run with the horses, while Ollie watched Mama ride Chance.

Chance and Fantasia ran along side each other as Alex made her way around the ring. The bitter cold seemed to have no affect on them as they ran fast and made sharp turns.

The wind forced Alex's hair back as they went around the next bend.

Olivia couldn't help but watch Alex as her ass moved up and down.

 _I wish she was riding me right now._

As the baby grew, it was becoming harder and harder for Olivia to top Alex, which frustrated her. Alex was taking care of all of her sexual needs, but Olivia wanted to be able take the reigns sometimes, and to have to go for months without it was not ideal.

"Mommy, I have to potty," Lorelei told her.

"Me too."

They just started their potty training last month and had their pamper pull ups on.

"Let's go inside."

Alex, Olivia, and the twins returned to a full living room. Margo and Bill had arrived as had Liz and Serena Benson.

Hugs and kisses went all around. Sometimes, Olivia still couldn't believe that she had this giant family now.

Serena had been knitting a scarf. Lorelei took it and started wrapping it around her head.

"I'm not done with that yet." Serena had started knitting while she was in rehab. It gave her something to do.

Alex and Bill started talking about the law, as always. They had opposing views of Justice Scalia.

"You don't find him remarkable?" Bill questioned.

"I find his opinions entertaining. I don't always find them meritous. Similarly, I found Olivier Stone's biopic of the Doors very entertaining, but much of it was fiction."

"Oliver Stone, really?"

"Scalia's no Orson Wells."

Somehow their legal debate became a film debate. It mattered not what the debate was only that they were having it.

"How do they change what they're arguing about so quickly?" Olivia questioned.

"I gave up trying to understand those two when Alex was a teenager. They just have that quirky lawyer mind. How has your day been?"

"Really nice. We went out to see the horses. Alex went for a ride and the farmer's dog came over to play."

"Oh Sheeba is a sweetie, a bit of a licker though."

Liz and Serena played with the grandchildren.

"Did you want children of your own?" Serena asked her.

Liz shook her head. "I loved Alex, and Trey and I love most of my nieces and nephews, but I was too career driven for motherhood. I didn't want to be the kind of mother who hired a nanny and left them to raise my kids. I do everything 100% and I didn't have 100% for motherhood in me."

Serena couldn't say she had either. "I never thought I'd be a mother. I was all about being the feminist, academic who didn't need a man or a baby to be happy. I never thought a woman could have it all."

Her daughter and her daughter in law seemed to be pretty damn close. They both had their careers, beautiful kids, and a third one on the way. They made it happen.

Right before dinner, the last guests arrived. It was Trevor and Elsa Langan. They came bearing gifts for the twins.

"Welcome," Jennifer hugged both of them. "I'm glad you could make it."

"We almost didn't. The roads coming out of New York are a mess." They got through just before the roads started to close.

Wadsworth took their bags, and they went to freshen up before dinner.

"This house is even bigger than the Southerlyns.'" Elsa was already intimated.

"Don't worry about a thing. They're normal people, well as normal as Cabots can be." He calmed her with a kiss.

"EW! He has cooties!" Alex declared as she threw a nerf ball at him. It bounced off his belly.

"You little punk!" He started to chase her.

They were running around the living room before Walter chided them. "Aren't you two a bit old for these shenanigans?"

"She started it … He started it." They had both said at once.

"What did I do?" Trevor questioned.

"Your face."

"Real mature."

Walter shook his head. They'd always be like this.

Thirty minutes later, they were all around the dinner table, getting ready for a big feast.

The first course was an arugula, pear and goat cheese salad. Usually Olivia slides her salad over to Alex, but this time she scarfed it down.

"Like your salad?" Alex teased.

"I'm eating for two."

"Remember that the next time I'm pregnant," Alex told her with a smile. Liv had relentlessly teased her for how much she ate with the twins, especially when she ate pizza at 3AM.

"Already working on baby number four," Trevor teased.

"I'll always take more grandchildren," Walter told her.

"Calm down," Liz told him. "You're about to get another grandson as it is."

"Maybe we should get the twins in kindergarten before we have another baby," Olivia told her.

"That's a good idea."

Elsa couldn't help but be a bit jealous. She wasn't ready for children yet, but she wanted to be ready. She wanted to give Trevor little Langans to have running around their house.

The next course was pumpkin soup, served in hollowed out little pumpkins.

"These are so cute," Margo told her sister.

Lorelei got soup all over her face. Alex kept cleaning it, just for her to mess it up again.

"Why don't you wait until she's done?" Olivia suggested.

"I'm just trying to keep the soup out her hair."

After soup came pork chops and roasted potatoes followed by a cheese plate and then a cinnamon white chocolate soufflé to finish off the meal.

The drinks kept flowing for those who partook in alcohol and everyone was feeling good by the end of the evening.

"Ready to go upstairs," Elsa asked a bit loudly.

Alex snickered at her.

Before they all went their separate ways, the twins got to open one present before Christmas Day.

Alex grabbed one present for Lorelei and Olivia grabbed one for Ollie.

"From Uncle Bill and Aunt Margo," Alex read before Lorelei tore open the packaging. It was a toy convertible car. Right away, she started wheeling it around.

Margo thought she saw a bit of a tomboy in her.

Ollie's present came from Trevor and Elsa. It was a toy xylophone. He started to hit the keys with his hands while Lorelei was zooming around.

Jennifer took way too many pictures.

"Mom, the flash is going to make me blind," Alex fussed.

"But the twins are so cute. They make the best Christmas cards." This year's card was a picture of them opening their presents last Christmas.

New York

The Stabler house had fewer overall people than the Cabot house, but it had more youth, so it was a wilder affair.

People were yelling over each other trying to hear bits and pieces of conversation. Kathleen was texting under the table to her mother's chagrin.

Kathy's parents were eager to talk to Casey, as they had not met her before.

"How long have you been working with SVU?"

"Almost two years now." It had started off as a temporary assignment and then it became the real deal.

"How did you get the assignment?"

"I was filling in for a coworker who had been on maternity leave, but when she came back, she ended up getting a promotion, so I kept her job."

"Whatever happened to Olivia? She used to come over sometimes," Kathy's mother asked.

"She's married now," Kathy told her.

"And she has two kids," Dickie added.

"Soon to be three," Lizzie added.

"Oh how lovely," Kathy's father stated. "What does her husband do?"

Elliot had a smirk. _Wait until they her this!_

"Her wife is the Bureau Chief of SVU," Kathy said cautiously.

"Damn it," he cursed as he handed his wife $20.

"I told you."

"What?" Elliot questioned.

"I pegged her as gay years ago. I knew he'd have to pay up eventually."

"You knew?"

"I suspected. Come on, the short hair, leather jacket, cocky swagger, I may be old but I'm not dead."

If Kathy's parents minded Olivia's persuasion, they did not say so. Instead, Kathy's mother asked if they had any pictures of Olivia's family. Kathy found the Halloween picture for them to look at.

"Oh they have twins, and they're so cute."

"Her wife is a looker."

Kathy's parents were Catholic and conservative, but they were fond of Liv, and they wanted her to be happy. They also noticed Elliot's attraction to the brunette, and it was in Kathy's interest that Liv bat for the other team.

Kathy was happy to see that her parents were becoming more open minded with time. She didn't think they would have approved ten years ago or even five years ago.

Elliot merely grunted. He didn't see how Kathy's parents approved of Alex for Olivia. She's a woman, and an uptight bitch at that. Elliot considered himself a good catch. He was a marine, went to college, became a police officer yet his in laws still looked at him as if Kathy had settled.

"You said something about another baby?" Kathy's mother questioned.

"Olivia's pregnant," Kathy told them. "They're having another son."

"They better be ready to run around. Little boys can be a lot of trouble."

"Dickie is living proof," Lizzie teased.

Dover, MA

Trevor usually fell asleep right after sex, but Elsa was a post-sex chatterbox.

"Do twins run in your family?"

"Huh."

"They either run in your family or Alex's and if we try to have a baby, we might need to be prepared for twins."

"Oh, um I don't know of any other twins in my family. Are you thinking about having a baby?"

"It's too soon, but I wish it weren't."

"What?"

"Alex and Olivia are so in sync with each other. They're basically finishing each other's sentences and know when to pass the other one food. I wonder if that came from parenting together."

"You think a baby would bring us more in sync."

"Yeah."

"Maybe they knew they were ready because they were already in sync," Trevor countered before turning to his wife. "I love you, Els, and I'd love baby Elsas running around, but I think we need at least another year or two before we try for that, and that's just fine. Why not spend the time getting to know each other, intimately."

"How intimately?"

He grinned and pulled her back under the sheets.

Christmas Day

When Alex woke up, she was hungry. She was about to get out of bed and get a snack when she saw the sun shining on Olivia's perfect body. Alex licked her lips and rolled on top of her wife.

Alex kissed her cheeks and her forehead before giving her a soft kiss on the mouth.

Olivia opened her eyes to see Alex over her.

"Merry Christmas Baby."

Olivia grinned. "Do you have a present for me?"

"I do."

"Show me!"

Alex kissed her neck and started caressing her shoulders with her long fingers.

"OOHH!"

"I want to devour every inch of you," Alex husked into her ear before licking her wife's neck.

"FUCK!"

Alex relished in her wife's sweet and salty skin, moving along her collar bone, lavishing her breasts with kisses and caresses before kissing her wife's stomach, hips and inner thighs.

Olivia's legs automatically opened. She was so close and her wife hadn't even gotten to the good part yet.

Alex skipped her wife's sex and went on to her feet. She started to massage them.

"Stop teasing me!"

"You don't like this?"

"You know I love it when you rub my feet, but right now I want you to eat me!"

"Okay," Alex teased before sucking on her wife's toes.

Olivia glared.

Alex smirked before making her way up to her wife's swollen lips and sucking on them.

"MORE!"

She plunged two fingers inside, curling them forward to touch her g-spot.

"AHHHH!" Olivia shrilled loudly as she came all over her wife. Her hormones made her come so easily that Alex couldn't tease her for too long. Olivia swore that she could come just from Alex watching her lustfully.

The Chief wanted to see how much she could get out of her wife, so she kept licking her, forcing orgasm after orgasm until Olivia pushed her head away.

"Merry Christmas, Liv."

Olivia needed to rest. "Oh Lord."

"I'm Alex, remember."

"You cocky bitch."

"You know you love it."

"I don't know about that, but I love you."

They shared a sweet kiss and cuddled before it was time to freshen up. They had to get themselves and the twins ready for Christmas breakfast.

The cook had two options for breakfast: crab cake Benedict with bacon or pancakes with fresh fruit and a choice of meat.

Olivia ordered the pancakes for herself, but she couldn't help but eye her wife's breakfast as well.

Alex offered her a bite, but then Olivia ate half her plate, so Alex had to order another one.

"I'm eating for two," Olivia said in defense of a silent accusation.

"But I still need to eat for one."

Olivia kissed her nose. "I love you."

They were about to go to the presents when the doorbell rang. It was Trevor Sr. with presents for the twins.

"Trevor, come in."

This was the first time he saw his daughter in law since she and his son eloped. This was a bit awkward for him. Eventually, he moved one foot after the other and got himself to the Christmas tree.

"Did you want any breakfast?" Jennifer offered.

"I already ate, but thank you."

The twins ran right up to their grandfather. He always came with presents.

The family gathered around the Christmas tree. The twins kept trying to run to the presents.

"Patience," Alex told them as she tried to get them to sit on her lap.

"Mine!" Ollie declared as he saw a box.

Jennifer and Walter started cracking up. "Oh he's just like his Mama. We couldn't keep you out of the presents when you were little."

Alex pouted before she handed him to his Mommy. "Your brother's in there."

"BRUDDA!" He poked his Mommy's belly.

Lorelei bee-lined for the presents, but then Serena scooped her up. "Come to Grandma!"

Trevor Sr. noticed that she had a bright smile when she picked up her granddaughter. He could see where Olivia had gotten her beauty.

The little monsters got all kinds of toys from stuffed animals to a car they could move with their feet. Each time the twins opened a new toy it immediately became their favorite one.

The adults happily looked on as they played.

"We're so lucky," Alex whispered against her wife's skin. They had two precious babies and a new one on the way.

Olivia held her hand. "I'm even luckier because I have all of this and you."

There was no way for Alex or Olivia to top the past presents they had given each other on Christmas. They got engaged one year. They got a house and car for their family the next year. They had everything they needed or wanted. It didn't mean they didn't try though.

Alex gave Olivia floor seats like she did last year, but she added a twist. "I already called Kathy, and Dickie is free to go to the Knicks/Bulls game next month." She knew her wife wanted to spend more time with the boy.

"That's perfect," Olivia kissed her.

Alex had also given her wife a ticket for a pregnancy massage, and a new ergonomic chair for her desk at work. "I know you'll be going on maternity leave soonish, but you can take the chair with you back to SVU."

Olivia kissed her, "taking care of me as always."

Olivia had a present for Alex that she knew would make her woman smile.

Alex opened it and saw a photo of an island sunset. She turned it over and saw taped to the back a reservation for a house in Molokai in October. They had a week there.

"You're not the only one who can plan a trip." Olivia had thought about surprising the blonde, but she hated keeping secrets, so it would have been hard to pull off.

Alex had always wanted to go to Hawaii. "I can't wait to see what you planned for us."

They shared a quick kiss.

* * *

The Stabler children were excitedly opening their presents. While her siblings opened them in whatever order, Lizzie sorted her presents.

"What are you doing?" Kathy asked her.

"I'm ranking the presents, so that I open the best one last."

"How do you know which one will be the best?"

"Liv and Alex are both good at reading people. I don't think they could give a bad gift, well unless they didn't like you."

Dickie opened the present they got him. "A Stephan Marbury jersey." Inside with the jersey was a note. _We thought you could wear this to the Knicks/Bulls game in January. See you at the Garden!_ "WOOHOO!"

"I rest my case," Lizzie told her mother.

Kathy shook her head. "Our kids like them better than me."

Casey patted her back. "I always liked my mom's friends better than her too."

Kathy's jaw dropped. _What a bitch!_

"I'm just teasing. They love you. Just let them be materialistic this one day."

Kathy snorted. "You're mean."

"You know you like it."

Maureen got a coupon so she could have heated seats put in her car. "There is a god."

Kathleen got a cute dress with matching shoes and a note. _If Danny sees you in this, I'm sure he'll ask you to the Valentine's Dance._

Lizzie got two one-hour sessions in the batting cages and two tickets to a Yankees game. The note said, _we wanted to send you to the NCAA Softball World Series but it's in Oklahoma._ "Casey, will you go with me?"

She looked to Kathy for confirmation and she nodded. "Sure."

"Awesome!"

Elliot frowned. _Why was Casey the first person she asked?_

Kathy liked everyone who cared for her children, and Casey clearly cared. Lizzie was quiet. It was hard to get her to open up to people, so it was notable that she had taken to Casey so quickly.

* * *

Dover, MA

Alex had another surprise for Olivia once they got upstairs. Jennifer and Walter would be watching the twins first. They were so popular that the adults would argue over who got to watch them and for how long.

The Chief handed her wife a box. Olivia opened it to see a green dildo and black spanks that it could affix to. "I think this will be easier for you than the straps."

"How am I going to take you with this big belly?"

Alex grinned. "Leave that to me."

They started with simple kisses and caresses. Before they knew it, the two women had fallen out of their clothes. Alex helped Olivia get into the spanks and then attached the cock.

"Lie back on the pillows."

Olivia got comfortable and then Alex straddled her. She leaned back so she was on her forearms. With her legs opened wide, there was plenty of room for them to maneuver.

Alex started to rock her hips back and forth. "Take me Baby."

The detective heard that throaty groan and started to drive her hips. She was always horny and having a naked Alex on top of her only made it worse. "Touch yourself," Olivia hissed at her. "I want you to come with me."

Alex started stroking her own clit.

"OH FUCK, LIV!"

"LEXI OH LEXI!"

Their voices were full of desire and desperation. They both had this aching feeling that was …

"OH FUCK!" They came as close to the same time as possible before Alex slipped off her.

"How was that Baby?"

Olivia groaned happily.

Alex kissed her and then pulled down her spanks. She was sure she could get Olivia off again with just a few licks.

Olivia put her hand in Alex's hair, at first to push her away, but then she gripped her hair. She was sensitive and it almost hurt, but it still felt really good.

"I need to … OH FUCK!" Olivia came again and then pushed Alex's head away.

The Bureau Chief grinned as she kissed her way back up to Olivia's neck. "Merry Christmas Love."

"Merry Christmas indeed," Olivia mumbled as she started to doze off.

* * *

Serena and Trevor Sr. were next in line to watch the twins. Their grandmother decided to read to them _Where the Wild Things Are_ , which she read to Olivia when she was a little girl.

Trevor played the harmonica as an accompaniment, which Serena thought was goofy yet charming.

The twins also got _Green Eggs and Ham_ , _Ramona and the Pest_ , and _The Tiger Who Came to Tea_.

Trevor thought it was cool that Serena had books from Olivia's childhood to read to the grandbabies.

"I can't say I was the best mother," Serena said, far from it. "But I wanted her to be able to reach for the stars. Books teach you how to do that, well they had taught me."

She would say the simplest things, but they always amazed him. Trevor didn't know what he was feeling right now, but whatever it was, was something new, something that wasn't there before.

* * *

Before he could think further, Margo and Liz came to kick them out.

"It's our turn," Margo declared.

The twins were conked out on the couch.

"Why don't you check out the main house?" Liz suggested. "There's more to do over there."

"I haven't been over there since the wedding," Serena told them.

"Then we should go," Trevor insisted. "The horses are lovely."

Serena was actually scared of horses. She only signed up Olivia because the girl had begged, but she felt embarrassed saying so, so she said, "okay."

They got in his car and drove off.

"It's nice that they're getting along," Margo pointed out.

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure they didn't try to swipe the twins," Liz chuckled.

"You're sneaky."

"Oh I know." Serena got to babysit them anyway. It was time for Aunt Liz.

* * *

A half our later, Trevor was getting Pollux (Jennifer's horse) ready. "He's the most docile," Trevor told Serena. Chance was second and Fantasia was a bit wild.

"I've never been on a horse before," she admitted.

"Oh, I'll show you. It's easy."

He got on and showed her how to get the horse to start. "Just kick his side. It's more of a tap. Use the reins to steer and pull to get him to slow down or stop." He slid down and then helped her get up.

 _This is high!_ It was cool though, once she stopped freaking out.

He got Chance ready and got on him. "Shall we?"

They went into the ring, starting with a slow and easy walk. Serena wanted to yelp every second of the way but it was fun. She never thought she'd be on a horse. For a long time, she never thought she'd be able to do much of anything.

They only stayed out for a half an hour. It was rather cold outside even though it had stopped snowing the night before.

They got the horses back into the barn and then went into the main house.

Serena still couldn't believe people grew up in this house. It was huge and majestic and so unreal.

Trevor started searching for food. He was hungry. "All I see is chocolate and milk."

"Then hot chocolate it is." Serena got a pot and started to make some.

* * *

The day after Christmas, Elsa and Trevor were flying to Paradise Island for their honeymoon.

They were about to leave for Logan Airport when Trevor's father asked for a word with them.

"I wanted to apologize for freaking out when you told me you two had gotten married. Even a blind man could see how happy you two are together, and I hope we can start again."

Elsa hugged him readily.

"We'll talk when I get back, Dad." It was nice that someone in his family supported his marriage. He knew his mother never would. She was not the kind to get over grudges, ever, choosing to spend Christmas being pampered by masseuses and manicurists instead of with her family.

She didn't even see her own husband until after dinner, since he chose to eat at the Cabots.

He went to greet her and she glared. "How long does it take to drop off presents?"

"I stayed to play with them," and talk to Serena, but you need not know that.

"Humph."

 _Classic Audra_ , Trevor thought as he headed to his office.


	11. Chapter 10 II

New Years' Secret

Kathy invited Alex and Olivia over for dinner on New Years Eve. Elliot had to work, so the family decided to stay in.

The invitation was music to Alex's ears. When she heard Elliot had to work, she almost cheered. Olivia gave her a _be nice_ look but Alex only shrugged.

"Olivia, you are absolutely glowing," Kathy pointed out after hugging her.

Olivia blushed happily. "I'm just so excited." She felt herself about to cry. Damn, these hormones.

Alex kissed her wife's cheek. "I'm so lucky." Olivia was giving her the best gift in the world.

Dickie and Lizzie came downstairs as soon as they heard the front door open.

"Hi Liv, Hi Alex!" Dickie was happy to see them both and their little rugrats.

"Hey Dickie!"

Hugs were given all around before they all made their way to the dinner table.

Of course, the children all started talking about Christmas. Each one was thankful for the gifts he or she received, especially the ones the Cabots picked out.

"What did you get for Christmas?" Dickie asked their guests.

* * *

While the Stablers and the Cabots were having a nice home cooked meal, Elliot was eating takeout with Dani. She had gone to get them sandwiches. She was nice, but in some ways, Dani was just a substitute for Olivia. Elliot missed the days when it was just him and Liv.

Back in those days, he had seen her more than he had seen his own wife. When a case involved children or something equally horrific, Olivia took care of him in ways that Kathy knew nothing about. Now, those days were gone, and seemingly not coming back.

"Is your family doing anything for New Years?" Dani questioned.

Elliot shrugged. "Kathy invited Olivia and her family over for dinner."

"How nice," Dani said with fake sincere tone.

Elliot rolled his eyes. "I don't get it. Kathy's enamored with Alex." She had nothing but good things to say about the Bureau Chief.

"Alex is someone she can relate to," Dani said. "They both have spouses who work dangerous jobs and long hours. They seem to both take on the more domestic side of child rearing, and didn't you say she told the twins they could come over whenever they want? I'm sure Kathy's relieved every time she gets them out of her hair."

That's another thing that got Elliot annoyed. Alex didn't even ask before she sent that open invitation.

"Yeah, she did," he sighed.

"Child rearing just isn't my thing," Dani said. "I would never sign up to watch other people's kids on top of my own kids. My idea of a good time, a nice dinner, no where too fancy but somewhere that has good beer and a nice steak, then get out on the ground and explore the city, lights action everything. I'm no Susie Homemaker."

Elliot couldn't remember the last time he had a night out like that. Dinner, sure he and Kathy did that some times, but just exploring the city for what it was, not something they did.

"Your husband's a lucky guy."

"Who said he's invited?" she teased.

Elliot was envious of Dani. She was free to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Even her husband didn't seem to have a handle on her.

Elliot and Kathy had married so young, he wondered what that kind of freedom tasted like.

* * *

Lorelei and Ollie were having fun running around the living room with Lizzie and Dickie.

Kathleen and Maureen were watching the Times Square event, and Alex insisted on helping Kathy with the dishes.

"You're our guest."

"And guests are supposed to be thankful," Alex retorted as she got the rest of the plates. "Dinner was fantastic." They had coq au vin for dinner.

"I have you to thank for the recipe," Kathy answered. Alex had given her a set of recipes she could make with a slow cooker, saving her a lot of cooking time.

"Thank Julia." Once Alex had been introduced to Julia Child, cooking became so much easier.

Olivia would have helped with the dishes, but Alex insisted she rest. She was all about taking care of her pregnant wife. _I wish she'd take care of me in bed, right now._

Poor Olivia's hormones were raging and Alex, being a sexy beast, did not help matters at all.

"Mommy!" Her concentration broke when Lorelei hugged her leg.

"Hi Lorelei."

"I have to potty!"

Olivia got up to take her to the little girls' room.

"It's good they're potty trained now," Dickie commented about the younger twins. "Else, they'd have three diapers to change soon."

"It's nice that they're going to have a big family," Lizzie said to her brother. She just wished Casey had someone. The girl was too awesome not to have someone to love.

Once the dishes were away and the kitchen was clean, Alex and Kathy broke into a bottle of Champagne, one she and Olivia had brought back from France.

"I wish I could have some," Olivia commented as she saw them with their glasses.

"In France, many women don't stop drinking when they're pregnant," Alex commented. "They actually drink red wine to relax."

"Really?" Kathy questioned. "Do they have more incidents of fetal alcohol syndrome?"

"I'm not sure, but in France the focus is more on 'not binge drinking' not abstinence."

Olivia declined to have any wine. Instead, she settled for the taste of it on Alex's lips. "They're so sweet."

"Aren't they always?" Alex teased before kissing her wife.

They had been married for almost two years, but they were still in honeymoon mode. Kathy thought that phase expired as you got old, but they still had it. She longed for the days that she and Elliot were all over each other. "How do you two do it?"

"Do what?" Olivia asked innocently.

"Still look at each other like you just got together."

Alex rubbed Olivia's hand. "I don't know how to look at her any other way. It's like asking why is my hair blonde or why are my eyes blue. They happened to be that way and although there is some metaphysical reason for it, I'll never know the answer. I happen to be madly in love with her and every time I see her it's like my biggest dream just came true. How I got so lucky, I'll never know."

Olivia pulled her wife closer. "How are you so amazing with words?"

"You're my muse." Alex turned her attention towards Kathy. "Maybe you and Elliot need a date night, a chance to rediscover what drew you two together in the first place."

"We'd be happy to take Dickie and Lizzie for a night if you needed the time to yourselves," Olivia offered.

That did sound nice. "You are so kind."

"It's what friends are for," and Alex did consider Kathy a friend, even if she'd push Elliot off a cliff.

* * *

New Years Eve had been a slow night in the 1-6. Surely, the drama would really happen through out the night. They would likely get an early morning call about someone who woke up, having been attacked and not remembering what actually happened. It was typical for New Years.

Elliot and Dani had their own countdown to New Years with beers and pork rinds. Obviously, they weren't allowed to drink on the job, but work was slow and no one was here to catch them.

When the clock struck midnight, the two partners turned to each other and kissed.

Elliot had been expecting maybe a peck, but it quickly turned to something more. This was new for Elliot; he hadn't had another woman's kiss in two decades. It was wrong, but right now, it just felt like fun.

Dani broke the kiss first and said, "Happy New Year, Elliot!"

They didn't talk about the kiss for the rest of the shift. No one had to know, right.


	12. Chapter 11

The New Year was a time for change for everyone.

Trevor Langan returned to his firm, energized and ready to bring it up to the caliber he knew it could reach. He was ready to resume his role as managing partner; he would oversee their attorney underlings while Henshall would focus more on the operational side, taxes, rent, non-legal staff, and endorsements.

Trevor was to win for their clients, and Henshall was to make sure they could pay the bills.

Right away, Trevor promulgated new standards for their lawyers. "After reviewing the firm's work over the last two years," Trevor started. "I found that the number of hours we are billing as gone up, but the actual work we have produced has gone down."

We are in a competitive market.

"This is unacceptable. Clients will leave us and go elsewhere if they find out they can get more for less with another firm. I know first hand that it is a skill of its own to bill hours properly, so for the junior associates, I have drafted a standard for hours, detailing how many hours one should bill for an assignment. If you get it done faster, great. If it takes longer than expected, then I expect you to document why you should be billing at a higher rate than the norm."

Trevor also thought this would help for people who forget to log their hours right away. It would help keep their reporting accurate.

If this wasn't bad enough, there was more. "I'm also dissatisfied with the resolution of our cases, particularly the criminal ones." Their win rate against SVU went down notably after his coma. Alex moved up the ladder. They shouldn't be doing so poorly. "No one is going to pay us a lot of money just to lose." They were also settling more, likely because of their worse win rate.

Trevor expected better work product, stronger motions, better trial prep, anything to get them winning again.

The culture of the firm had been work hard play hard when Trevor founded it. This quickly shifted to what's work, play harder after Trevor's accident. Henshall didn't really notice because clients kept paying. From his perspective, everything was fine.

Langan promulgated standards for his firm to follow and he would be overseeing their work more closely until he got the quality of work he expected all the time.

"You're all dismissed."

There was a collective groan, but it stayed silent. The good ol' days were gone.

"Man, you really tore into them," Henshall told him.

"Their work just hasn't been up to par. I'm not their mother. I don't sugar coat things for them." We pay them good money to do the work, so they need to shut the fuck up and do it.

Trevor was determined to get his firm back in order, and if he had to trim the fat, then so be it.

Trevor wasn't the only one who had to clean house. Alex had some work to do with SVU. Jim Steele caused a mistrial by not disclosing relevant evidence under the Brady rules.

Branch was furious and Donnelly had to make sure that Alex's managerial skills were not slipping.

"How on Earth did this happen?" Donnelly didn't want any bullshit. She wanted the truth, whatever it was.

"I'm not sure," Alex admitted. "I had no idea that the DNA results were inconclusive."

"It wasn't in his report?"

Alex shook her head. "I have the report that he handed me." Alex turned it over. It listed the evidence they had and nowhere were DNA results listed. "I believed that no DNA had been recovered."

When Liz checked Jim's online file, the DNA results were there but … "this document was modified two days ago. When did you get this report?"

"Two weeks ago."

Of course, Jim tried to cover his tracks, so he could lay the blame somewhere else. "What do you think we should do?"

"We should give Jim the chance to turn himself into the bar, but if he doesn't, then we have to report him."

"And about his job position?"

"Immediate suspension and I would recommend termination. He already received one verbal warning about his attitude, and he got a written warning about his job performance. He's out of excuses at this point."

"Branch wants me to ensure this won't happen again. Any suggestions?"

"I'm one person Liz. I can review the work that my ADAs do, but I'm not in the precinct with them. I wouldn't know if they were hiding the ball."

"There has to be a second check." Liz didn't have time to do it either.

"What if I had a Deputy Bureau Chief? Someone's who was paid a little extra and tasked with issue spotting?"

"Anyone you trust to do that?"

"Actually there is."

When Casey got called into Alex's office, she assumed it was trouble. Everyone knew Jim was in the hot seat.

"Whatever Steele did I know nothing about it," Casey pled her case.

"The only one who is in trouble is Steele. I'm here to discuss a potential promotion with you."

Alex explained what Jim did, the concerns Branch had that it could happen again, and what Alex's proposed solution to it was. "You'd be my second in command, and would be the one to take my place if I was absent. It would be your job to make sure that the evidence that the police collect is accounted for in the case files." This would ensure that the ADAs didn't forget anything and that they didn't hide anything.

"So I'm the babysitter?"

"You're more like the safety net. I'll also be overseeing their work, but you will have a very narrow focus."

For the added work, Casey would be entitled to a raise and some extra vacation days, not that she took all of the ones that she had.

"One thing, if you do take this promotion, I insist you take a week off this summer. Seriously, I don't care if you stay in your apartment and eat pork rinds all week, you need a break."

"When you put it that way, how could I resist?"

Casey ultimately took the promotion and Jim was suspended indefinitely. Donnelly was the one to issue the notice.

"You have a week to report yourself to the bar. If you don't, I will have to file the complaint myself, and I guarantee you, my word choice will be less kind to you than what you could write yourself.

You don't have to let this one mistake ruin your life, but it will if you don't learn to pull your head out of your ass. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good, now get on with it."

He didn't say a word to anyone as he packed up his desk and left. He was out of here and he knew it.

Alex just thought it was a waste. He was a good ADA, before he let the jealousy get to him. It's an ugly trait.

In an alley on W30st, a black and white car rocked back and forth.

"Faster," she growled.

"You're so impatient."

"We do have to get back to work."

Elliot grunted. They didn't have a case right now, for once.

Two more minutes, and they were both out of breath.

"You popped one of my buttons."

"Sorry," he grumbled.

"No you're not."

"Yeah, you're right." He wasn't going to handle her with kid gloves. She knew what she was getting into.

They rode in silence as they went back to the precinct. This was just about sex. No need to tell the spouses. No need to let feelings get involved.

Dani freshened up in the bathroom before returning to her desk.

When she got there, Casey was waiting for them.

"I have not so good news for you."

"What's going on?" Munch questioned.

"Jim's case ended in a mistrial because he withheld key evidence from the defense. Branch decided not to re-file charges."

"They're going to get away with it," Elliot snapped.

"He doesn't think we can get a conviction or that the damage to the office's reputation will be worth it."

"What's happening to Steele?"

"He's been suspended indefinitely, likely will be fired, and he has to answer to the bar."

Cragen just got news of Casey's promotion. "Congratulations Casey."

"What?" Fin questioned.

"Alex made me her deputy. It's my job to make sure what Steele did doesn't happen again. I will be overseeing the work of all of the ADAs."

"Isn't that her job?" Elliot questioned.

"It's her job to supervise their case theories and their trial work. None of the Bureau Chiefs had double-checked to make sure their ADAs weren't hiding evidence. We thought it was a given."

Alex was disappointed with the outcome. She wondered if she should have followed her gut and recommended Jim be fired earlier. She never would have guessed he'd do something like this.

"Do you think I made a mistake?" Alex asked Olivia over dinner.

"For what?"

"Not firing Jim before he did this."

"He had a bad attitude and was a bit lazy. That's a far stretch from ignoring unfavorable DNA results."

"I know but …"

"You hold yourself to too high of a standard and then blame yourself for not reaching it. This wasn't your fault, Babe."

"Thanks Liv." Sometimes, she just needs to hear something simple to cut through the overthinking.

She hoped someone made these scumbags pay eventually, but unfortunately, it would not be today.

Three days later

Thomas Crane was watching his television when he heard a noise.

 _Probably a raccoon_

He ignored it and continued to watch. Little did he know, Bill O'Reilly was the last thing he would ever see.

A bullet pierced through the window, striking him in the head before he could react to the glass shattering.

The killer calmly picked up the casing, walked to the next block, got in a car, and left the scene.

15 minutes later, a patrolman was dispatched to the scene. He rang the bell and there was no answer, so he crept to the side of the house where he looked through shattered glass and saw a man slumped in his chair.

"Request for back up. It looks like a homicide." You never knew with these gunshot call-ins.

When the body was identified as Thomas Crane, the cop who allegedly got away with raping and murdering a ten-year-old girl, two clear suspects emerged, the girl's father and the officers of the 1-6.

The next morning

"Crane died instantly," Dr. Warner concluded after she did the autopsy. "He was shot from about 15 feet away, which is congruent being shot through the window. I found tiny bits of glass imbedded into the skull."

Tucker had a smirk on his face. "What can you tell me about the gun?"

"It's a 9mm. I sent the slug to ballistics. They should be able to tell you more."

"Time of death."

"About 10:15PM last night, which I believe is when the gunshot was reported." She usually didn't get deaths so fresh.

"Anything else that you think is notable."

"Whoever shot him was a good shot."

He sighed. Time to find his favorite officers at the 1-6.

Fin was at his desk as was Chester Lake. Munch was on loan to the FBI and was in Quantico.

Elliot and Dani had yet to arrive to work.

"Where are Benson and Stabler?" They were the hotheads.

Fin frowned in confusion. "Benson's with Computer Crimes and Stabler's not here yet."

"She's not on SVU anymore?"

"You don't get out much, do you?"

He went down to Computer Crimes where she was typing away.

"What made you leave SVU?"

She cringed when she heard Tucker's voice. "It's only temporary. I'll be back in July."

It was only when he came around the desk that he realized, "You're pregnant."

"Don't tell me you want to make an IAB case out of it."

He showed his smarmy grin. "Thomas Crane was murdered last night."

"Who?" She knew who he was, but she didn't know why he was bothering her.

"He was an officer accused of raping and murdering a 10 year old girl. The DA recently decided not to re-file charges against him."

"Oh, and let me guess, you're going to keep bothering everyone from the 1-6 until someone else solves the crime."

"Where were you last night at 10:15?"

"You're kidding. I'm tired, bloated, and hate standing up, so unless I could have killed him from this wheelie chair, you're barking up the wrong tree."

He rolled his eyes. "It was a simple question."

"Fine, I was at home, underneath my wife, and she'll verify that."

Olivia went right back to typing. This guy is nuts.

Elliot and Dani had just come in when Tucker was there.

"Oh great," Elliot sighed.

"Who is this?"

"Lt. Tucker, IAB."

"EW!"

Elliot laughed. "Whatever that perp says, I didn't punch him."

"Crane's not saying anything. He's dead!"

Elliot hadn't noticed. He didn't read the morning paper. "I didn't do it."

"Where were you last night?"

"When?"

"Why don't you account for the whole evening?"

"Well, I was here until 6:30, went home, had dinner with my family a little after 7:00 and I stayed there for the rest of the night."

"And you?"

"I left here maybe 10 minutes after Elliot, and then I went home to my husband and we went bowling last night. The place has cameras in the parking lot."

Fin was watching basketball that night.

That left Chester Lake.

"Were you with anyone?"

"No. I live alone."

"I went to the gym and then I came home and took a shower."

"Can anyone verify that?"

"The gym, yes. The shower at home, no."

No alibi is not a basis to arrest either man, but Tucker would be back.

Ballistics came back with a match. The gun was used in an unsolved homicide two years prior.

It had been reported stolen three years prior and then used in a fateful mugging a year later.

"According to the record," Tucker read, the killer dumped the gun in a dumpster two blocks away. It was found by dumpster divers.

He went to the evidence locker, and the gun was gone. "It was definitely a cop."

Of course, Elliot had been in the evidence locker recently.

"What were you doing in there?"

"Getting evidence."

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Why?"

"Because Casey told me to. She had to compare everything we had with whatever was in her case file."

Casey confirmed his story. "After the Crane debacle, we have to have an accounting for every piece of evidence and what condition it is in. What's in the box must be accounted for in the ADA's case theory, and it's now my job to make sure nothing is hidden or misrepresented.

I needed a template to work from, so I asked Elliot to get all of the evidence out from our most recent case and started there."

Elliot could have grabbed the gun then, it would have been convenient, but the man at the storage didn't remember Elliot going anywhere other than for that box.

"The gun was on the other side of the unit. I don't think Elliot was over there."

Another roadblock, but Tucker wouldn't get up. He'd catch his man, somehow.


	13. Chapter 12

AN: Sorry I've been MIA the past few months. I went from unemployed to employed to soon to be unemployed again ... Well, let me get this story going again

* * *

Two weeks later

Dickie and Olivia had a Knicks game to attend.

Alex had a car pick them up, so Olivia wouldn't have to drive or worry about parking.

"Riding in style!" Dickie was excited. The car came with snacks and soda.

"How was school?"

He shrugged. "It's not as much fun without soccer, but there's still P.E." Dickie would rather run than sit all day.

"You don't like being at a desk all day."

"No!"

"Neither do I."

"When are you going to have the baby?"

"April."

"That's pretty soon."

"Yeah it is." They're going to have three kids under the age of two. _What were they thinking?_

They got to the stadium and there was a special entrance for those with floor seats. They got ushered to the front and Olivia was glad they were in the second row. It was less likely a player would crash into her by mistake.

Dickie took pictures with his phones. "My friends are going to be so jelly!"

"What?"

"Jealous."

"Kids and their lingo."

"You sound like Dad."

"I can't keep up."

They got their menus and Dickie wanted, "chicken fingers and fries."

That sounded good, but Olivia got the cheeseburger plate instead.

Olivia's son kept kicking. He was ready for the game too.

Alex had the game on at home. She showed the twins. "See that's Mommy on the tv."

Lorelei ran up to it. "Mommy!" She seemed to think her mother was somehow inside of the tv and wanted to get inside of it too.

Ollie pointed but didn't get up. He figured she'd come out of the tv when she was ready.

Alex wasn't much of a basketball fan, but she could always look for her wife in the crowd.

The game had just started when Alex got a phone call. "Hey Kathy, what's going on?"

"Hey, I wanted to see if you and Liv might be up for a girls' night this Friday." Kathy decided she needed some adult interaction. Elliot was always busy working, and the kids went out with their friends on the weekend, leaving her alone.

"Sure, that sounds like fun."

"I would volunteer Maureen to babysit, but she has a date … for once."

"Ouch."

"She gets asked out, but she'd rather make money than date most of the time. According to her, there's no romance without finance."

"She's right. It's been enshrined in song."

"Well in that case …"

"We shouldn't have trouble finding a sitter. The twins are pretty popular."

"I'm sure they are. They're gorgeous."

* * *

Elliot hissed when Dani scratched down his back. "My wife will see that."

"Then don't fuck her."

He rolled his eyes. "What am I supposed to do, not shower or get dressed if she's around?"

"If you want to be so thoughtful, why aren't you at home?"

Dani's husband was out of the country again. Elliot wasn't really sure that their deal was. Were they even a couple at this point?

"Shut up!" He growled as he pinned her hands over her head. "If you can't play nice, maybe I should just tie you up."

"I don't do nice."

Elliot told his wife that they had caught a new case. She never questioned his work; the details were always too gross to describe.

He sunk his teeth into Dani's neck, leaving his mark.

"Now who's not playing fair?"

"Just say it was your husband."

"Haha."

He had been like putty in Dani's hands. All she had to do was pay attention to him. His wife seemed sweet but naïve. Could she really keep up with him? Apparently not.

The kiss cam came on during the game. Most of the couples had peck after peck. One guy went for it, and the girl turned away.

"Rejected!" Dickie called out.

He and Olivia laughed.

"That's so embarrassing."

"What would you do if Alex rejected you on camera?"

"She'd be sleeping on the couch, not that she would do that."

"I might do that, just to get her to gasp in surprise and then kiss her."

Olivia raised a brow. "You better marry someone who likes practical jokes."

"That's the first requirement."

"Any girls in your sights."

"I plead the fifth."

"Ooh!"

The Knicks won the game. They were not having a good season, but a win is a win.

Dickie got a free toy as they were leaving and now it was time to go back to the house.

"Thanks for the game!"

"It was my pleasure."

He got dropped off first and then Olivia got home."

* * *

The twins were already asleep.

Olivia kissed her wife.

"How was the game Boo?"

"It was good."

"Kathy invited us for a girls night next Friday."

"Oh great. Is Casey coming?"

"I didn't ask. We can find out."

The next time Kathy and Alex spoke, she asked, "Is Casey coming?"

"She's welcome to come, but she's probably busy."

"With what?"

"The new case going on."

"What case?" Alex questioned.

"Elliot has been pulling extra hours all week looking for the serial rapist."

Alex had no idea what she was talking about. "Oh, well I'll see what Casey's up to."

It took Kathy a minute before she realized "wait. You're the Bureau Chief. How do you not know about this case?"

Alex didn't have an answer other than Elliot's probably lying. "Um …"

Elliot has been quick to take a shower when he comes home. He also hasn't tried to get any from me recently. _Is Elliot having an affair?_ "What's going on Alex?"

"Let me call Casey and then I'll call you back."

Shit! Alex called the ADA who had just been finishing up her paperwork.

"Novak!"

"It's Cabot. Do you have a serial rapist case right now?"

"No, and you assign my cases, remember."

"I know that, but Elliot told Kathy he's been trying to catch a serial rapist all week, and I had no idea what she was talking about."

"Could he be working with another borough?"

"I guess, but that would be unusual."

"What are you thinking?"

"Why do most husbands lie to their wives and say they're at work?"

"SHIT!"

"Yeah, that."

"We don't know that it's true."

"No we don't."

Alex could only do one thing. "Anyway, I had actually wanted to invite you to Kathy's girls night out, but I don't know if we'll be having it at this point."

"Yeah, it might be a let's key Stabler's car instead, and I probably shouldn't go to that."

Alex called back Kathy. "I don't know about this case. Elliot could be working undercover or with another borough, but it's not through my office."

Kathy dropped the house phone.

"Kathy … are you alright?"

Suddenly, her world just caved in.

* * *

An hour later, Elliot called to say that work was keeping him. Kathy was too distraught to confront him. Instead, she told Kathleen to keep her eye on things and she went out to The Mockingbird, a local bar.

Four Long Island Ice Teas drinks later, the bartender cut her off and told her to call someone.

She called Alex, who had yet to tell Olivia what was going on.

"I got to go pick up a friend."

"Something wrong?"

"She drank too much. I'll fill you in when I know more." She kissed Olivia and headed out.

It took her over 30 minutes to get to Queens with the traffic. She got there to see a red eyed, weeping Kathy Stabler.

"I gave him the best years of my life and for what?"

Alex knew she hated Elliot Stabler; now it was tenfold.

"Because you have four beautiful children who will always be worth it in the end."

Alex tried to get Kathy up to get her home, but the blonde kissed her instead, taking the Bureau Chief by surprise before Alex pulled away. "Kathy, I know you're hurting, but I'm married, and I love my wife."

"Oh fuck, what did I just do?"

"It's okay, Liv will understand, but Kathy, we got to get you home."

"I can't …"

"You can't walk."

"I can walk, but what am I supposed to do?"

"You find out the truth."

"How, I couldn't even confront him on the phone. I knew he was lying but I couldn't …" Kathy started to sob.

Alex hugged her. "You hire a PI and you find out the truth. Get the evidence and then decide. You owe yourself that much."

Kathy eventually got up and Alex drove her home. Almost two hours after she left, Alex arrived at her house.

"What took you so long?" Olivia questioned.

"She was pretty distressed. Her husband is having an affair, and she just found out."

"Dear God."

"She was so drunk she kissed me."

"What?" Olivia was not happy.

"She's straight and I know she didn't mean it, but I leaned in to get her into the car and I think she got confused."

Olivia raised a brow.

"I didn't kiss her back. It's only you baby."

"If she tries it again …"

"She won't," and she didn't.

* * *

The next day, Kathy woke up with a terrible hangover. She took Advil and winced as she got through her morning and from the safety of the hospital computer, she looked up private investigators. She saw one who looked like Columbo to her and she gave him a phone call.

"Peter Marsh, Private Eye."

"Hi, Mr. Marsh. My name is Kathy Stabler. I would like to retain your services."

Yes, I need money. "Are you free to come in sometime this week?"

"How about today?"

"Even better. What time is good for you?"

"I get off work at 3:30, so I could get to you a bit after 4:00."

"I'll put you in at 4:30, and if you get here earlier, we'll start earlier."

Kathy never thought she'd do something like this. It had this cool retro feeling to it, which did not nearly make up for her rage, but hey, it was something.

Alex felt like she was sitting on a ticking time bomb. _What would they do when Kathy confronted Elliot?_

If they got a divorce, everyone would have to choose whose friend they were going to be.

It was obvious for Alex, but what if Olivia wanted to stay friends with Elliot? _What would happen if they were still partners after Olivia came back to the squad?_

Alex did not like all of these unknowns.

When Kathy got to Marsh's office, she was nervous. What if this got back to Elliot somehow? What if she ended up just looking foolish in the end?

She decided she couldn't look any more foolish than she had when she kissed Alex, so she may as well go for it.

The blonde went into the office, which was an attachment to the man's house.

"Mr. Marsh will see you now," a matronly looking woman told him.

She knocked on the door.

"It's open."

Kathy went inside. With the shutters on the windows and the old lamps, the office reminded Kathy of her father's office in her childhood home.

"Kathy, please take a seat."

She sat down on the couch.

"How about you explain what you're doing here and I'll explain what services I can provide that might help?"

"Well my husband … I think my husband is having an affair."

"Alright, why do you think this?"

"He's a detective, and he said he was looking for a serial rapist, but my friend, who works in the same division had no idea what he was talking about."

"I'm going to keep asking you questions to flesh this out. The more I know, the easier time I'll have investigating. So your husband is a detective and what does your friend do?"

"She's the Bureau Chief."

"So she's a cop too?"

"No, she's a prosecutor."

"Alright, so the prosecutor knows nothing about this alleged serial rapist. How early in the game is the prosecutor involved?"

"Right away. They get the warrants and stuff like that."

"So your friend would know if your husband had a case, even if he had no suspects yet."

"Yes."

"Alright. What time does your husband go to work?"

"He reports at 8:00AM."

"And when does he come home?"

"He used to come home around 6:30. Now he comes home closer to 9:00."

"And how long has he been coming home this late?"

"The past several days."

"Any other strange behaviors."

"He showers a lot and he hasn't tried to well … you know with me."

Tell signs.

"Do you know who his mistress might be?"

"I really have no idea."

"Does he work with any women?"

"His partner's a woman, but she's on maternity leave. His temporary partner is also a woman, Dani Beck."

"Dani Beck. Do you know where she lives?"

Kathy shook her head.

"I'll figure it out. What precinct does your husband work in?"

"The 1-6."

"Alright. Here's what I can do. It costs $75 hours as my base fee and there's an extra $25 for surveillance. I can either follow him all day and see what comes up or I could just follow him for this added time he's been taking on this alleged case. The former will cost more, but may get you results quicker."

"I would say follow him all day, but I can't afford that."

"Al right. I'll start the tail at 5:00PM tomorrow and see where he goes. I'll need a retainer of $500, cash or check. If there's any leftover money, you'll get it back. There's an additional fee if you want me to testify in any hearings or produce any documents. You get $10 photos free if I find anything."

Kathy signed the agreement and wrote the check.

"We're in business."

While Kathy was investigating her husband, Lieutenant Tucker was investigating as well.

He went through the list of people who had gone through the evidence locker from the day the DA dismissed the charges until Crane got murdered.

This was a lot of people and Tucker had to talk to each one and ask why he or she was in the locker.

They all had pretty normal reasons except for Sgt. Smith who said, "I wasn't in the evidence locker."

Tucker showed him the signature page.

"I didn't sign that."

"You need to show ID to get back there."

"I didn't go back there. Maybe some other guy said he forgot his id, and they let it slide."

Unsure of what to make of this, Tucker had Smith's signature on his employment contract compared with that of the evidence locker sign in.

The expert said, "These were not made by the same person."

"How can you tell?"

The old man looked up at Tucker. "Well to start, Smith is a righty and a lefty signed this evidence locker form." There were a variety of other flaws in the signatures as well.

Of course, the employee who had been working the sign in sheet that day didn't remember the transaction.

"I always check for ID."

"Then why do we have a fake signature here?"

He shrugged. "I don't know okay."

Tucker looked at the signatures again. An expert could tell they weren't the same but he couldn't. Perhaps the person who signed the form had known Smith."

 _Time so start sifting through employment histories._

* * *

Eventually, Tucker came up with a name, Chester Lake.

He used to work with Smith, interesting. Tucker got Chester's employment contract and sure enough, Chester Lake is left-handed.

Tucker returned to the 1-6 to speak with Lake only to hear, "he's not here," Fin told him.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know." He had said something about personal time.

Tucker went to see the captain. "Where's Lake?"

He shrugged. "He took personal time. He hasn't been here in a couple of days."

Lake fled the coop. _I should have had everyone on the 1-6 followed._

Tucker needed to shore up his case. They'd have to get an arrest warrant out before Lake was gone for good.


End file.
